A rough season got worse for Northwestern this weekend, as the Wildcats dropped three straight games to Southeastern Louisiana (8-4) in Hammond, Louisiana, this weekend.

The three losses — two of them on late-inning rallies — dropped NU’s record to 1-9 on the season.

On Friday, the Cats never had much of a chance. NU trailed 9-0 after four innings, as starting pitcher senior Brandon Magallones and reliever freshman Justin Yoss failed to contain Southeastern Louisiana’s offense. The Cats chipped away enough for a respectable 10-5 final.

Saturday’s double-header brought different paths to the same result for NU.

In the first game, the Cats were tied going into the bottom of the eighth inning before allowing a pair of runs that doomed them to a 6-4 loss. NU racked up 11 hits but left 10 runners on base and committed four errors in the field.

Game two unfolded similarly. The Cats scored three runs in the first inning and, after a strong performance from junior starter pitcher Matt Portland, led 3-2 entering the ninth inning. Junior reliever Jake Stolley, who had already thrown two scoreless frames, retired the first two batters before the inning unraveled. Stolley hit a batter, then allowed a double and a walk-off two-run single.

Though the Cats’ offense continued to under-perform, they did score more runs per game than they had in either of their first two weekends. NU has suffered from uncharacteristically poor performance from several key regulars and the health-related absences of outfielders junior Jack Mitchell and sophomore Matt Hopfner.

At 1-9, NU has the second-worst record in the Big Ten, ahead of only 0-6 Penn State.

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