Northwestern Baseball Drops Series as Big Ten Tournament Chase Continues

The 'Cats were in every game this weekend but failed to take the series win.

Northwestern's handshake line at Purdue. | Photo: Northwestern Athletics

The end of the college baseball season is quickly approaching as Northwestern has just two more weekend series left to play. It currently sits at 10-14 in conference and tied in record with Michigan State for 12th place. The 'Cats do not have the tie breaker, however, and only the top 12 teams get to compete in the Big Ten Tournament.

This weekend, Northwestern traveled to West Lafayette to take on Purdue in a three-game set. It managed to get the victory in game one, but it hurt its tournament chances in games two and three.

On Friday, the 'Cats had starter Sam Hliboki on the mound against Purdue's Carter Doorn. Doorn was the better of the two in the series opener, allowing just two earned runs to Hliboki's six. But Northwestern's offense saved its righty hurler from the loss in the seventh inning.

Trailing 6-2, the 'Cats dropped a six-spot on the Boilermakers against the bullpen. Jackson Freeman and Ryan Kucherak were both hit by pitches to drive in runs. But Bennett Markinson did the biggest damage with a three-run double to take an 8-6 lead.

From there, reliever Crawford Wade was able to post three clean innings en route to a game one win.

In game two, the Boilermakers kept Northwestern's lineup in check for most of the game again. Starter Cole Van Assen went seven innings of scoreless baseball.

Christian Forniss got the start for the 'Cats, allowing one run in 4.2 innings pitched. Unfortunately for Northwestern, Jack Grunkemeyer struggled out of the pen, surrendering four runs in 3.1 innings of work.

The 'Cats trailed 5-0 heading into the final frame. That's when the bats rallied once again and scored three runs, but it was too little too late, and Purdue evened the series.

The rubber match was another tight one. Purdue scored three runs off Matthew Kouser in the first inning, but Northwestern fired back with two of its own in the top of the second.

The game stayed close into the late innings, and the score was 5-4 Purdue in the bottom of the eighth. It was then that Purdue delivered the kill shot, although it was somewhat self-inflicted by the Wildcats.

With the bases juiced, Northwestern second-baseman Jacob Hand made a fielding error and two runners scored. Up 7-4 in the ninth, Purdue gave up one last run, but the 'Cats fell short once again by a score of 7-5.

Looking ahead, Northwestern will play a series next weekend at home against Ohio State. It will then play a standalone contest against Valparaiso before traveling to UCLA for the final series of the regular season. If the 'Cats want a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, now is the time to take it.