Momentum is a funny, often unpredictable thing and it caught up with the Wildcats this past weekend. Ben Greenspan and his team glided into Atlanta on a five-game win streak with dreams of an upset or two, but there wasn’t much they could do against one of the most talented teams in the nation. No. 5 Georgia Tech — the best team in the Atlantic Coast Conference — took out all their frustration off a major upset to Georgia State as they scored an almost unfathomable 44 runs across three games, two of which
ended by run rule.
The Yellow Jackets, who boast two potential top draft picks in Drew Burress and Jarren Advincula, put on an absolute clinic offensively. The Wildcats, meanwhile, held a lead for a total of three half innings. Yes, it would have been nice to see Northwestern keep it competitive into the later innings of at least one of these games, but Georgia Tech simply operates in a different stratosphere of talent. Tech mashed 10 home runs and walked 18 times in only 20 offensive innings while their pitchers struck out 22 Wildcats. It was a sight to behold.
The Good
So, what positive can be said about the Wildcats’ performance? More than you may think. Northwestern’s early success this season has relied on lineup depth and a contact-oriented approach. Despite the final tallies, the ‘Cats stuck to their approach; they tallied 28 hits total in the series and did not end a game with fewer than eight base knocks despite the lopsided final scores. To hammer the point home, Ryan Kucherak, Noah Ruiz, Jack Lausch, Jay Slater, Logan de Groot and Jackson Freeman all recorded multi-hit games. I believe we witnessed compounding unfortunate circumstances: regression to the mean in the slugging department as the Wildcats faced their stiffest competition of the season. The sheer number of extra-base hits Northwestern accumulated over the first eight games of the season was never sustainable, but this team proved that they will hit no matter what, even if balls aren’t clearing the fence at a high clip. All you can ask of a team trying to punch above their weight is to not lose sight of their recipe for success and the Wildcats stayed true to who they are against the best team they will face this season.
On the other side of the ball, I was thoroughly impressed with the defensive effort. You may look at the box score, see three errors in three games and question me, but given the overwhelming number of balls in play the Wildcats defense held up soundly. It would have been so easy to lose focus trailing by ten in multiple games, but this team plays with a real fire every at-bat that cannot go unnoticed.
The Bad
There are a few ways to address a section dedicated to “bad” in a series where Northwestern was outscored by 31; it is difficult to identify where the Wildcats failed and the Yellowjackets excelled. I think all Northwestern fans knew coming in it would be an uphill battle on the bump for the pitchers, but I was more awestruck than I could have conceived by Georgia Tech’s offensive performance. Credit to their guys for simply refusing to take bad at-bats as they dominated the batter’s box without much resistance across the three games. After the Rice series I expressed some significant concern over the lack of strikeouts and whiff that Wildcat pitchers generated and it feels like this series was the first-percentile outcome in that department. There are two archetypes for a strikeout artist: lights-out stuff or funkiness. Almost no Northwestern pitchers not named Garrett Shearer have the type of electric arsenal that, when they’re on, miss bats consistently. So it is up to the pitchers to mix their spots, pitch backwards and find the areas on the margins to capture the edge on a pitch-by-pitch basis which is something they simply have not been able to do. Luckily, Wildcat pitchers won’t have to face another lineup like this one, but with conference play looming, it will be hard to survive if they hover near the bottom of the Big Ten in strikeouts as they did last season.
The Best
I can’t believe I had the audacity to call out Jack Lausch and Ryan Kucherak last week after their slow starts to the season. But, it may have been just what they needed. Lausch and Kucherak each recorded hits in all three contests, combined for four RBI and provided the most consistent offensive production for the Wildcats over the weekend. Kucherak tallied three extra-base hits including a home run and Lausch made one of the most outstanding plays you’ll see all season in center as he laid out in right-center to rob a triple. If these guys are both humming, this offense can unlock another gear.
Of course, it wasn’t the weekend anyone in the Northwestern clubhouse or any fan following along at home envisioned, but you don’t get better if you don’t go up against the best. The Wildcats have the chance to get right in three one-game sets against South Dakota State, Omaha, and UNLV at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis starting on Friday, March 3 before the home opener versus the University of Illinois Chicago on March 10.
