Northwestern has not won back-to-back games since February, but after a win Tuesday the Wildcats feel they could start a winning streak this weekend.

The Cats (5-22, 1-7 Big Ten) open up a three-game series against the Iowa Hawkeyes (18-12, 3-6) Friday at Rocky Miller Park. 

After being swept by Illinois last weekend, coach Paul Stevens said on Sunday he felt a string of wins coming. The Cats made Stevens look prophetic Tuesday with a 12-5 thrashing of Valparaiso, ending their seven game losing streak.

“We had some major things happen in major aspects of the game,” Stevens said Wednesday. “I’m fully expecting that was a turning point for a lot of guys from the mental side of it. … But I’m not going to talk about (stuff) that’s going to happen. I can get them revved up or whatever, but the bottom line is actions speak louder than words. We’ve got to go out and play.”

The Cats could have folded after losing seven straight games and 18 of their previous 20, Stevens said. But their “intestinal fortitude” kept them going.

Junior outfielder Luke Dauch credited NU’s ability to stay level-headed for keeping the team focused.

“No one ever got too down during that stretch,” Dauch said. “Sometimes that’s just how sports are. You go on winning streaks, you go on losing streaks. Unfortunately sometimes there’s injuries or people just don’t perform. And sometimes you play exponentially well.”

NU’s pitching staff has settled into a groove with strong outings in the last three games. Sophomore Reed Mason and junior Brandon Magallones tossed gems against Illinois. Seven different pitchers took the mound Tuesday and allowed only two earned runs combined.

“We’ve really been working on getting ahead in the count, throwing strikes early,” said Mason, who Stevens said will start Friday. “We’d been giving teams more opportunities than they deserve. Now we’ve been making sure we’re in control.”

Mason said returning to fundamentals has played a huge part in the pitching staff’s improvement.

“The thing you think about every time you pick up a baseball is hitting your spot,” he said. “We just needed to get that level of focus up because we’d gotten away from that, really the most fundamental thing of pitching.”

The Cats’ hitters had a breakout performance Tuesday, giving pitchers run support for the first time this month. After being held to two runs over 28 innings in its previous series against Illinois, NU tallied 12 runs against Valparaiso.

“Being able to put up 12 runs means it was a great day, and it helps build confidence,” Dauch said. “We broke that monkey off our back.”

Five Cats, including Dauch, turned in multi-hit performances as NU built a lead as large as 11 runs, their largest of the season.

NU now tries to carry their success into the weekend. Stevens acknowledged the difficulty Cats will face against Iowa’s pitching staff, led by Calvin Mathews and his 2.55 ERA.

“A lot of people don’t think momentum is a big thing in baseball, but it’s huge,” Mason said. “Baseball is such a mental game. You’ve got to go into a game expecting to win. And when you’ve lost that many games in a row, it’s tough to keep that edge. Now it’s coming back to us.”

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