As spring takes shape in Evanston, Rocky Miller Park – Northwestern’s other “Rock,” this one north of campus – is, as freshman Kyle Ruchim put it, “in its finest form.”
A handful of balls in Wednesday’s game took strange hops. One bounced so violently junior shortstop Trevor Stevens said it looked like it hit a ramp.
“You get a lot of funny bounces,” Stevens said. “We go into games expecting the worst to happen. We’ll maybe try to take balls in front of us, where other teams will go off to the side. That works in our favor a lot.”
Though the “ramp”-bounce was one that worked in NU’s favor against Chicago, the Wildcats made three fielding errors, contributing to one unearned run en route to a narrow 4-3 win over the Maroons.
While the balls in the field may have taken tough hops and impacted the defensive play, right fielder Jack Livingston didn’t let the trend of errors affect him. In the eighth inning, the 6-foot-4, 210-pound freshman dove for a line drive and came up with the ball, keeping Chicago’s leadoff hitter off the bases and helping preserve the Cats’ lead.
“That was an amazing catch,” Stevens said. “That’s really tough to do. I was amazed. It was awesome. Those (plays) are always fun to watch.”
Stevens got the team going every time he stepped up to the plate. Getting hit by a pitch in the first inning, Stevens seemed to have a vengeance in each at-bat and went 3-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.
Although it’s important for everyone in the lineup to rack up hits, coach Paul Stevens said Trevor’s getting on base with Paul Snieder and Chris Lashmet coming up next is often key to the Cats scoring runs. But Trevor said getting on base is often about more than setting the table.
“It helps (Snieder and Lashmet out) and the team, mostly because guys are afraid of me running,” said the junior, who has stolen a team-leading nine bases this season. “They get to see more fastballs, which is great for them.”
Lashmet, who is hitting .353, grounded out in his three at-bats Wednesday. On the third ground out, Lashmet fell trying to avoid the bang-bang play at first. The senior knelt near first base for a few moments before walking without a limp to the dugout. Lashmet was replaced at third base by freshman Patrick Miller.
After the game, coach Stevens didn’t know what the report was for Lashmet but sounded more confident than skeptical.
“I’ll have to find out tomorrow,” the skipper said. “He’s a North Shore kid. He’ll be OK.”
Even without Lashmet, the Cats found ways to string together hits to score against Chicago. Coach Stevens said he’s been giving opportunities to players who don’t usually get them, especially because this week’s two midweek games weren’t canceled.
“That’s where I’ve got to … have people show me a different side of them that you never get to see on a weekend,” coach Stevens said. “There are some people that definitely stepped up and may change the complexion of what you see go on out there. I’m pretty proud of about three guys that really did a decent job in the last two days.”
Stevens wouldn’t divulge who those three players were, but unexpected standout performances in the last two games came from senior Brant Cavagnaro and freshmen Cody Stevens and Patrick Miller. Though he went 0-for-4 in Wednesday’s game, Cavagnaro went 2-for-2 on Tuesday. Stevens batted .400 over the two contests and Miller went 2-for-2 on Wednesday.
Backing up the Cats’ offensive performance Wednesday, freshman lefty Dan Tyson pitched five innings, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out three. Freshman sidearmer Jack Quigley toed the rubber for the sixth inning and ended up with runners on second and third before inducing a swinging strikeout.
“I was impressed with him taking to heart what I had to say to him,” Paul Stevens said. “‘Have a nice day. Please enjoy your time on the mound. Get this next guy out.’ … I love Quigley.”
Senior Matt Gailey pitched the seventh and eighth innings, striking out three and allowing no runs on no hits. Snieder allowed two straight singles to start the ninth inning. The junior struck out the third batter he faced before Ruchim replaced Snieder with one out and a runner on third. Ruchim worked efficiently, whiffing the last two hitters on a combined nine pitches to end the game.
One aspect of preparation for NU’s second-to-last Big Ten series is clear: Rocky Miller Park is going to get some work before Michigan visits.
“We need to do some work on our fielding, and we need to do some work on the field,” Stevens said. “Our guys have to really do a job tomorrow manicuring a few things.”
