Northwestern’s offense is clearly capable of making a lot of noise. That’s what makes the muted moments so peculiar.
This past weekend, NU erupted for nine runs on 16 hits and three home runs in a 9-6 win over Indiana. In the other two games of the series, the Wildcats combined for just two runs on 13 hits in a pair of quiet losses to the Hoosiers.
“It’s hard to explain why people hit when they do or why the offense gets going sometimes and why it doesn’t,” junior first baseman Paul Snieder said. “That’s just baseball I guess.”
Indeed, after breaking out on Saturday, NU was held to just three hits over the first five frames on Sunday, quickly falling behind 3-0 in the rubber game against Indiana.
“(We need to) maybe try to harness the energy that we had on Saturday and bring it over to Sunday, ” Snieder said, “and keep that same kind of energy going forward and not take things for granted.”
Such inconsistency is nothing new to this weekend. In their last 10 games, the Cats have scored nine runs or more four times and have been held to three runs or fewer in four games.
Perhaps such booms and busts are to be expected from a lineup that regularly features three or four freshman, including right fielder Jack Livingston, utility man Kyle Ruchim, second baseman Patrick Miller and left fielder Nick Linne.
Indeed, those four players have seen their batting averages go up and down all season, with only Livingston hitting above .300 at this point in the season.
Livingston has become a regular starter of late for the Cats, exiting the weekend with a .351 average.
“We saw him in the fall. You can tell the guy can hit,” Snieder said. “He can flat-out hit. That’s really helped us a lot. He hits the ball hard. He puts the ball in play. He’s got as many doubles as he does singles so he’s got a great power threat.”
Livingston has 16 runs batted in with just 18 starts, due in large part to the hitters that come before him in the lineup. Senior third baseman Chris Lashmet ranks third in the Big Ten with a .366 batting average, while Snieder ranks 11th with his .349 clip.
Shortstop Trevor Stevens possesses tremendous speed at the top of the lineup. Although his average has dropped to .296 in recent weeks, the junior is always a threat to get on base, particularly with his 25 walks this season, which is tied for the team lead.
When at least two of these three players is in a groove, they are more than enough to carry the Cats to victory. On Saturday, for example, Snieder and Lashmet combined to go 7-for-10 with three home runs with five runs scored and five RBIs.
Two of those home runs came courtesy of Lashmet.
“He’s been tearing the ball off the cover recently,” Snieder said. “He’s no slouch. He’s a big dude. He hits the ball hard. I’m sure the opposing team, when he’s up there, they’re not too happy because he’s hitting the ball really well recently.”
Yet, the top of the lineup can also be awfully silent at times, as they were Sunday, when Stevens, Snieder and Lashmet combined to go 1-for-11 at the plate.
And Lashmet continues to show a troubling proclivity for the double-play ball. While he is the team’s leading hitter, he also leads the Big Ten with nine double-play ground outs this season. In that sense, no one is more symbolic of the Cats’ ups and downs than the senior third baseman.
NU will hope to spice up its offense Tuesday afternoon as it hosts UIC at Rocky Miller Park. Last time these two teams played, approximately one month ago, the Flames held the Cats’ offense in check, limiting them to three runs on eight hits.
“We just got to come out aggressive,” Snieder said. “We’ve got to leave everything on the field. We can’t hold anything back at all.”
