Baseball

Northwestern returned to play this weekend after a two-week absence, but continued health and safety concerns from the Wildcats’ program forced NU and Nebraska to cancel the final game of the series.

The Cats (12-18, 12-18 Big Ten) dropped the first two games against the Cornhuskers (25-11, 25-11 Big Ten) in Lincoln before the Saturday evening announcement canceling the series finale. The past couple weekends, NU also postponed series against Michigan, Illinois and Purdue due to the same concerns.

On Friday, the Cats took on Nebraska for their first game since a 12-9 loss to Iowa on April 26. NU’s pitching staff continued to struggle, with junior pitcher Mike Doherty surrendering seven runs to the Cornhuskers in his six innings. Nebraska tacked on five more runs in the seventh inning against junior reliever Parker Hanks to extend its lead to 12-0. 

Singles from junior pinch hitter Tommy D’Alise and redshirt junior outfielder David Dunn scored a couple of runs in the ninth inning and helped NU avoid a shutout loss, but the 12-2 final score gave the Cats’ their second defeat by a double-digit margin this season. 

NU’s offense returned to form early on Saturday, scoring three runs across the game’s first three innings. The Cats extended their lead to 5-2 in the seventh inning, thanks to a home run by junior first baseman Anthony Calarco. 

But the Cornhuskers responded with a six-run seventh inning and rode the late momentum swing into an 11-5 rout, handing NU its seventh consecutive defeat. 

NU has two series against Iowa and Ohio State remaining on its regular season schedule, along with the potential reschedulings of their earlier postponed games. 

After a 9-5 start that had the Cats eyeing their first winning season since 2000, NU has dropped 13 of its last 16 games and slides down to 10th in the Big Ten standings. 

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Twitter: @john__riker

Related Stories:

— Northwestern’s Shawn Goosenberg is hitting his way to the top of the Big Ten

— Cats fall to Iowa and Maryland, drop to ninth in Big Ten standings (dailynorthwestern.com)

— Northwestern baseball falls to .500 after weekend losses to Indiana (dailynorthwestern.com)