It’s been 323 days since Northwestern’s baseball program and fan base has felt the Sunday evening satisfaction of leaving on a high note — winning a weekend series.

Sometimes, it takes a while for a program to reach this status. For Northwestern (5-21, 3-3 Big Ten), this meant waiting 26 games into their 2023 campaign before their first series win of the season, taking two out of three against their in-state rival Illinois (13-15, 3-6 Big Ten).

Although the spring sunshine began to finally show its face at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park, none of the victories this weekend came easy. Even in the madness, coach Jim Foster expressed that the tough battles helped the team get better.

“We’re starting to figure out our identities and play better so that’s nice to see,” Foster said. “Knowing who you are and what you got to do to help them be successful, not just short term, but long term.”

NU meant business from the get-go in the series’ first matchup Friday — or at least graduate student outfielder Griffin Arnone did. The captain of the outfield’s slicing line drive to center tipped out of Illinois’ diving outfielder Connor Milton’s glove, leading to Arnone legging out the sure-to-be base hit into a double and sliding head first into second base.

From there, team captain and senior infielder and outfielder Stephen Hrustich took control of the steering wheel with his RBI double, putting the Cats up 1-0 early.

The Fighting Illini struck back though, scoring two runs in the fourth, and another in the seventh. Outside of those three runs, the trio rotation of juniors right hander Matt McClure and left hander Nolan Morr, and senior right hander Coby Moe stifled Illinois at the plate, giving the Cats a shot to win.

“We got good pitching this weekend,” Foster said. “It started on the mound, you know, that was the best thing.”

After gaining a small offensive heartbeat after scoring in the first inning, NU’s offense revived in the ninth. Down to their last out, graduate catcher Cooper Foard became a superhero right on time, winning NU’s first game of the series in walk-off fashion.

Saturday’s matchup wasn’t as exciting for the Cats, who scored just two runs in the entire contest. The Fighting Illini’s bats had much more pop than the Cats’, scoring seven runs in the 7-2 contest.

With the series on the line, the Cats called on junior right-handers Luke Benneche and Ben Grable to take them to the promised land for the rubber match.

“We’re looking for that third starter, and (Benneche) got a chance to get out there today and do it, and really shined,” Foster said. “On the mound, you know, we’re not giving them as many freebies.”

After Hrustich’s three-run blast put NU up 3-1 after the first inning, the two programs went tick for tack, settling at four runs apiece by the seventh inning stretch.

Yet, in the eighth inning, freshman shortstop Owen McElfatrick broke the game wide open on the first pitch of his at-bat. The infield captain’s no-doubt homer quickly exited the ballpark, leading to a team and home crowd celebration and a watch-and-stare moment for McElfatrick. The long ball was his first hit of the contest.

“Coming into today, I just tried to do too much and try to top what I did yesterday,” McElfatrick said. “I kind of got back to that approach my last at-bat, just staying loose, having fun, and that’s how I felt.”

The three-run blast crushed the Fighting Illini’s chances of a comeback. With momentum in his favor, Grable made quick work of Illinois in his third inning on the helm — capped off by a diving catch by Hrustich in the right center gap.

Although NU’s overall record isn’t in tip-top shape, Sunday’s win secured the Cats’ third victory in conference play, and more importantly, a 3-3 record in the Big Ten.

“We’re just chasing series wins every weekend,” McElfatrick said. “We’re .500 in the Big Ten now, our records don’t really matter.”

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