If you’ve tuned into any Northwestern baseball this season, you know that the team has lived up to its nickname: the Cardiac ’Cats.
Between the 2024 and 2025 squads, a change is clear. Simply put, balls can’t stop flying out of the park, and the Wildcats’ ability to produce runs in late stages of the game has proven pivotal.
With its improved hitting, NU sits just four wins away from surpassing last year’s total — with many favorable matchups remaining on the schedule. Its offense should prove paramount to exceeding its win count from last season.
This past Sunday, the Wildcats were just one out away from victory against Iowa in the top of the ninth when a Blake Guerin double tied the game up at four for the Hawkeyes.
Fortunately, sophomore infielder Ryan Kucherak saved the day. With two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, he singled to left-center field, scoring Knott and securing the NU victory in walk-off fashion.
The two-out hit was Kucherak’s second walk-off of the year.
After Sunday’s walk-off win, coach Ben Greenspan praised this clutch aspect of his team’s game.
“I’ve said it all year. The resilience of this group,” Greenspan said. “I’m so proud of the way we came back today.”
Similar to last season, though, NU ranks last in the conference in runs and on-base percentage and is tied for last in average.
Last season, the ’Cats hit .242, while this year’s squad is hitting .259. Their on-base percentage has also seen a slight increase. What seems most compelling, though, is that the 2024 team hit 52 home runs in 52 games, while the Wildcats have already hit 40 in just 30 games this season. NU is currently on pace to reach 70 home runs this season, which would be a program record.
College baseball has resorted to a kind of “gorilla ball,” where the success of teams is highly dependent on their ability to hit home runs. Four of the last five national champions have hit at least 100 home runs during their seasons. The last two champions, Tennessee and LSU, finished first and second in the country, respectively, in home runs when they won.
NU seems to have taken note, as its ability to win more games seems to be a product of increased home run production.
A big part of this lies in the hands of junior infielder Trent Liolios, who’s batting .333 this season. Liolios already has 15 home runs this season, a mark that ties him for first in the Big Ten. More notably, however, the Newport Beach, California, native has already tied the NU program record for home runs in a single season. His .843 slugging percentage is nothing short of an elite mark. Liolios ranks first in the Big Ten.
The infielder batted just .209 a year ago, with nine home runs and a .398 slugging percentage.
“My timing and rhythm has changed a lot,” Liolios told The Daily after he hit four home runs throughout a doubleheader against Penn State on March 15. “The new swing adjustments we made really helped. I think that is kicking off the year right.”
Liolios isn’t just hitting balls out of the park, though, he is also hitting them when it matters.
Six of Liolios’ 15 homers have come in the eighth inning or later. Before Kucherak got the glory on Sunday, it was Liolios’ eighth-inning shot to right field to take the lead that looked like it would put the game to rest before Iowa responded.
A few days before, a tenth-inning solo shot from Liolios broke the deadlock between UIC, handing the ’Cats the midweek victory. This win pushed NU to 2-0 in extra-inning games this season.
“You’re never out of it with power,” Greenspan said after the Penn State series. “It just helps your offense a lot when you have a guy swinging the way he is.”
Kucherak, an LSU transfer, is also supplying runs from long shots. The sophomore has six home runs this year — the second most on the team. Kucherak hit three of those in game two of the ’Cats’ series against Illinois March 21.
Sophomore outfielder Jackson Freeman, NU’s co-home run leader last season, has been pivotal as well, joining senior catcher Bennett Markinson and Knott with four home runs this season.
While there have been obvious improvements within the squad, NU still has some work to do to hang with the top of the Big Ten at the plate.
As Greenspan said after NU’s game three victory over Penn State, the offense remains a work in progress.
“Excited with the development of certain guys, and I think certain guys are really close,” Greenspan said. “Hopefully, those guys in the middle of the order can really start to carry us, too.”
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Related Stories:
— Baseball: Northwestern shows off its resilience despite dropping two-of-three to Iowa
— Baseball: Liolios hits game-winning home run in 2-1 victory over UIC in rematch
