After getting swept against No. 5 Georgia Tech, Northwestern turned to the Cambria Classic at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, as they lost two contests in a three-game set against South Dakota State, Omaha and UNLV this past weekend.
The Wildcats (6-7, 0-0 Big Ten) did not get off to an ideal start coming off a series loss, as they lost in upset fashion to mid-major South Dakota State on Friday, 5-4. Despite graduate student Ryan Weaver’s commanding six innings, giving up just two runs and striking out nine — a career high — Northwestern’s bullpen failed to hold onto the lead, and the offense sputtered toward the later innings.
Northwestern scored all of its runs in the first five innings. Back-to-back-to-back hits from senior outfielder and former quarterback Jack Lausch, junior infielder Ryan Kucherak and junior outfielder Jackson Freeman in the top of the first inning, a home run to straight center field in the third by senior infielder Owen McElfatrick, and a South Dakota State error in the fifth gave the ’Cats four runs.
Although Weaver, coming off a rough outing against Georgia Tech, outdueled Jackrabbits (5-10, 0-0 The Summit League) senior Ty Madison, the ensuing bullpen arms failed to build off his strong start.
Graduate student right-hander Sam Hliboki failed to complete the seventh inning, giving up three hits in a row with two outs to lose the ’Cats’ 4-2 lead. The past two weeks have been a rough stretch for the right-hander, as Hliboki gave up nine runs in less than two innings in his start against Georgia Tech last week.
A wild pitch from freshman left-hander Dominic DeLoreto in the bottom of the eighth allowed the go-ahead and eventual winning run to score, giving NU its fourth loss in a row.
The ’Cats were able to right the ship against Omaha, winning 9-6. After a quiet start to the game, the ’Cats responded to an RBI single by Omaha senior infielder Chase Diggins in the top of the fourth with a run of their own, as an error by Diggins allowed freshman infielder Nick Barron to score.
NU would then add two runs every inning for the rest of the game. Doubles from Lausch, McElfatrick and Barron in the fifth, an absolutely obliterated two-run shot from Lausch in the sixth, a two-run double from freshman catcher Jay Slater in the seventh and a wild pitch and fielder’s choice in the eighth pushed the ’Cats’ run total to nine.
The pitching in the Omaha matchup was similar to the loss on Friday against South Dakota State, with a strong outing from the starter followed by shaky innings from the bullpen. Junior right-hander Garrett Shearer pitched four innings of three-hit, one-run ball, although the right-hander looked shaky in his last inning of work.
Following Shearer, freshman ARM-hander Jake Rifenburg fared less successfully against the Mavericks (4-9, 0-0 The Summit League) lineup. The Downers Grove, Illinois native gave up three runs in 2.1 innings while also hitting three Omaha batters. Senior Drew Dickson followed Rifenburg up by giving up two in 2.2 innings.
The pitching was once again poor, with NU’s offense more or less bailing out the bullpen.
Sunday’s game against UNLV was an important test for NU. The South Dakota State loss was a bad one, and although they beat Omaha, UNLV, coming into the game with an 11-5 record would be a challenging team to play against, despite not being from a Power 4 conference.
Unfortunately, the ’Cats could not meet the challenge, losing 10-5. Although NU scored first on a Barron RBI single in the bottom of the first, UNLV responded with two runs in the top of the second and fourth.
NU managed to cut the lead to one on a Lausch sacrifice fly and a Freeman single to right field before the team’s pitching imploded.
Unlike the NU’s starters in Friday’s and Saturday’s games, sophomore Matt Kouser was unable to hold the Rebels (11-5, 0-0 Mountain West) to two or fewer runs in his start. Kouser was hardly to blame, as only one of the four runs he gave up was earned. Multiple defensive errors cost the team in the early innings.
To give the lineup a chance to climb back into the game, the bullpen needed to be close to flawless, but they were not.
The Rebels scored three in the sixth and seventh innings, including two home runs in the sixth by senior catcher Ayden Garcia and redshirt sophomore infielder Cooper Sheff. Pitchers left-hander sophomore Carter Danz, left-hander sophomore Christian Forniss and left-hander freshman Sam Michel were responsible for the UNLV onslaught.
While the ’Cats managed to chip away somewhat, scoring five total runs with strong performances from Lausch and Barron, they weren’t able to overcome the offensive beatdown from the Rebels. A soft flyout to right field from junior outfielder Griffin Mills for the final out of Sunday’s game concluded another disappointing weekend for the ’Cats.
NU’s pitching has become a reason for concern, as after 13 games, its team ERA sits at 7.36. The offense has been decent, batting .273 with an .836 OPS, the prior of which ranks around the top third among Division I programs. The team’s performance reflects these numbers, as NU is now 2-7 when the offense puts up six or less runs and 4-0 when they score 7 or more. The average run total in Division I baseball through Sunday’s games is 6.3 runs per game.
The ’Cats will look for better results as the team tries to make the Big Ten tournament for the first time since 2017. NU returns home to play UIC on Tuesday before playing their first conference series against USC at home March 13 to 15.
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