Baseball: Northwestern starts strong but loses series to Nebraska

Despite an encouraging series opener, Northwestern was left with a sour taste after being swept in the doubleheader.

Fresh off their most deflating loss of the year, Northwestern (17-20, 8-10 B1G) visited Nebraska (19-21, 7-11 B1G) in desperate need of some life. Teetering on the edge of a .500 record, the ‘Cats hoped a strong series performance would bolster them out of mediocrity and help climb out of the standings hole they had dug themselves in.

Instead, a momentous series opener was followed by a lackluster doubleheader as Northwestern lost another series, dropping two of three games to Nebraska and plopping them in a tie for 10th in the Big Ten conference.

Their lone victory of the series was a welcome sign for the ‘Cats as it involved offensive firepower and clutch hitting. Preston Knott opened the scoring for Northwestern with a solo shot in the first inning. The Huskers quickly responded with long balls of their own off NU starting pitcher Sam Hilboki. The Wildcats continued to mash off Nebraska’s Will Walsh as Jackson Freeman hit a two-run shot after Bennett Markinson reached base on a single, followed by a monstrous home run from Ryan Kucherak that went 441 feet.

NU found itself up 4-2 after only two innings and continued to rely on the long ball to score runs. After Hilboki ceded a sacrifice fly to the Huskers, NU’s Owen McElfatrick hit his third homer in the past two games, a two-run shot to drive home Knott and give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead. The Huskers continued to fight back against Walsh, chipping in another run to make a 6-4 ballgame after three innings.

The scoring didn’t stop there as Kucherak launched his second homer of the game, giving the ‘Cats a 7-4 lead. But Walsh struggled to maintain the lead, allowing a two-run blast from Joshua Overbeek to make it a one-run game after four innings. The scoring quieted for the next few innings, with both teams still putting traffic on the bases but unable to bring runners to the plate. Walsh exited the game after six innings and was replaced by reliever Crawford Wade. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Overbeek broke the small scoring drought with his second home run to tie the game at 7-7.

NU’s lead evaporated by the 9th inning, but it refused to quit. After loading the bases through three walks, Markinson found himself down to his final strike with two outs. He received a fastball nearly in the dirt but got enough under it to drive the ball into right field, driving in Knott and Jacob Hand and allowing the ‘Cats to retake the lead.

Wade shut down the Huskers in the bottom of the ninth inning, and Northwestern cemented a 9-7 victory.

The remaining two games of the series were rescheduled as a doubleheader, both taking place on Saturday due to inclement weather conditions expected Sunday. The Wildcats hoped the adrenaline from Friday’s victory would carry over. Instead, it was Nebraska who brought the energy Saturday.

In the first game of the doubleheader, they mashed five runs in the first inning off NU pitcher Matthew Kouser. After ending the ‘Cats threat on the bases with a pickoff, the Huskers added to their lead with a two-run home run from Max Buttenback in the top of the second. In the blink of an eye, Nebraska was up 7-0 after just two innings.

After a quiet third inning, Kucherack continued his hot hitting with an RBI single to get the ‘Cats on the board in the fourth inning. But again, NU’s pitching couldn’t hold Nebraska at bay, and they got the run back on their own RBI single. The same pattern occurred in the fourth inning, as NU’s Knott launched a two-run single to make it 8-3, but Nebraska got both runs back and tacked on another to extend their lead to 11-3.

Northwestern’s last run came on a single from Hand, but pitching changes couldn’t stop the Huskers’ offense, which added three more runs and punctuated a 14-4 final score.

With only 45 minutes separating the two doubleheaders, NU had to quickly shake off the loss and regroup to try and win the series. Starter Christian Forniss kept Nebraska at bay for the first two innings, but threw two wild pitches, one advancing a runner to second and another advancing them home, to get Nebraska on the board. They again found success against Forniss, tacking on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth and another in the bottom of the fifth to make it a 4-0 game.

NU’s bats, meanwhile, were shut down by Nebraska starting pitcher Jackson Brockett, who allowed just two hits and struck out five in five innings of work. The ‘Cats finally drew blood in the top of the seventh inning with an RBI double from Kucherack. But it wasn’t nearly enough to pose a threat to Nebraska’s lead. Both teams exchanged runs in the subsequent innings, with Northwestern’s Griffin Mills mashing a pinch-hit home run, his first of the season.

In the bottom of the ninth, the ‘Cats had first and second with one out but were unable to capitalize, as back-to-back strikeouts gave Nebraska a 5-2 win and series victory.

The Wildcats hope to respond when they host UIC on Tuesday.