Northwestern won back-to-back games for the second time in eight days after sweeping Wednesday’s doubleheader at Chicago State.

The Wildcats (8-24, 2-9 Big Ten) won 6-1 in game one and followed with a 4-2 victory at night over the Cougars (10-23).

NU is now 4-2 in its last eight days, nothing too special to many baseball teams. But considering the Cats needed an entire month to register their previous four wins, there is reason for optimism.

“After today,” coach Paul Stevens said, “I have a really good feeling about where guys are right now.”

After three innings of shutout baseball in the first game, the Cats recorded the game’s first run on a two-out single by freshman Joe Hoscheit in the fourth. They tacked on one more on junior Luke Dauch’s sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Chicago State rallied in the bottom half of the fifth. With one run already across the plate and men on first and third, the Cougars called for a suicide squeeze. NU senior pitcher Nick Friar fielded Evan Davis’ bunt cleanly and threw Mattingly Romanin out at home. The Cats survived the inning with their 2-1 lead still intact.

Snuffing out the squeeze attempt was a turning point, Stevens said.

“Give credit to Nick Friar for putting that rally to sleep,” Stevens said. “He got off the mound quickly, and (senior catcher) Jake Straub did a tremendous job of blocking home plate.”

Hoscheit drove in another run in the sixth inning and then scored on junior Reid Hunter’s sacrifice bunt.

Hoscheit brought another man home when he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning. He finished with a pair of hits and tied his career high with 3 RBIs.

Junior Scott Heelan led the way in the second game with two hits and an RBI.

NU pitchers shut down Chicago State’s offense with a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings. Friar picked up the win in his first start of the season, and senior Dan Tyson improved to 3-2 in the nightcap. The Cats’ bullpen tossed five shutout innings over the two games, including a pair of one-two-three innings from freshman Matt Hopfner.

“Those two innings were as smooth as any two innings I’ve seen all year,” Stevens said.

Friar had made all 13 of his appearances out of the bullpen entering Wednesday, but Stevens said the senior could find himself in a starting role more often.

“If you find a person that can walk on the mound and throw strikes, you’ll be seeing more of him,” Stevens said. “If that’s what Nick Friar happens to do next time, like he did today, then we will see more of him.”

Overall, NU received major contributions from its younger players.

In addition to his impressive relief performance, Hopfner finished the day with three hits and 3 runs scored at the plate. Sophomore Zach Jones recorded one hit in each game, extending his road-hitting streak to four.

“I don’t think the young guys that are in this lineup really think of themselves as young,” Stevens said. “Right now they’re not intimidated with anything that comes their way, and that’s impressive.”

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Twitter: @Jesse_Kramer