Baseball: Northwestern welcomes Iowa in final homestand of season
Daily file photo by Joshua Hoffman
Northwestern coaches and players gather in the outfield. The Wildcats dropped both games last weekend against Nebraska.
May 20, 2021
Baseball
Riding a seven-game losing streak entering the weekend, Northwestern will look to swing the momentum back in its favor in a three-game series against Iowa in the Wildcats’ final homestand of the season.
The Wildcats (12-18, 12-18 Big Ten) are in the midst of a rough patch. After getting swept in a four-game series against Maryland and Iowa at the end of April, the team has dropped 13 of its last 16, and has only played two out of its last 10 because of cancellations due to health and safety concerns.
Now, NU will play its first full series in nearly a month and look to secure some wins against the No. 5 Hawkeyes (22-16, 22-16 Big Ten).
A large part of the Cats’ woes come from the defensive side. After giving up 23 runs in just two games to Nebraska last weekend, the rotation holds a 5.90 ERA — the fourth highest in the Big Ten — and has the least number of strikeouts. The team is also tied in first for errors in the conference.
Although NU ranks tenth in the Big Ten in the standings, its offense still shows potential. The Cats lead the conference in home runs and have the fifth best batting average, hitting .267.
Junior shortstop Shawn Goosenberg has the best batting average in the lineup, sitting at .352. The captain was named Big Ten Player of the Week twice and has smashed 11 home runs so far. He has remained solid all season, maintaining a six-game hitting streak with four RBIs and a home run, despite the squad’s defensive struggles.
The Cats aim to come back against the Hawkeyes, and after Iowa, the squad will square off against No. 6 Ohio State.
With six games left on the schedule, not including the potential reschedulings of the previously postponed games, NU will have to go undefeated for the rest of their games to finish the season with a .500 record.
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Related Stories:
— ‘Get it to Goose’: Inside Shawn Goosenberg’s emergence as Northwestern’s best batter
— Baseball: Cats postpone weekend games over health and safety concerns
