What. A. Weekend. There was no shortage of fireworks in Spartanburg, South Carolina as Northwestern swept Cornell and Boston College to secure a five-game win streak. The Wildcats started with a bang, drubbing Cornell by eight in the weekend opener and then pulling out two gritty wins before a seven-spot in the eighth inning in the final of the four-game set propelled them past the Eagles.
As a fan with lofty expectations and a sincere belief in the plethora of talent on this roster, even I was shocked
at points this past weekend. From a three-run ninth inning in game two against Cornell to the finale against BC where Northwestern drew 11 walks, chaos abounded. But, despite the shenanigans that four games in three days offers, Ben Greenspan’s team executed when it mattered most–something they could not say about the opening series against Rice–and it led to four well-earned victories.
The Good
It feels a bit reductive to skip over the standout individual performances when first answering the question of “what went right” but Greenspan and his pitching coach Ben Keizer deserve massive praise. In last week’s column I chewed out the pitching staff for the lack of strikeouts against Rice and it seemed they heeded my words. Northwestern pitchers struck out 33 batters across the four games, including 12 in the opener against Cornell, shoutout to Sam Hliboki for his huge bounce-back with six strikeouts of his own. What Keizer’s guys managed from a run prevention standpoint when losing–they trailed three out of the four games–stemmed from their ability to generate whiffs and put guys away. This offense has shown they can put up crooked numbers at a moment’s notice, the pitching staff just has to keep things close. Beyond the preparation and game planning, Greenspan pushed all the right buttons at all the right times. He used 12 different pitchers this series and it feels like he and Keizer have this innate feel for when their guys are laboring and when they got just enough in the tank to get the team back to the dugout.
In the box, I want to focus on a specific half inning, one that serves as a shining example of arguably the most critical ingredient for success on the diamond: situational hitting. In the bottom of the ninth against Cornell on Saturday afternoon in the second of the doubleheader, the ‘Cats trailed by three runs with their lone run having crossed the plate via a Nick Barron walk (who we will get to later). After a Jackson Freeman single and an Owen McElfatrick free pass, Barron came up again. It was a lefty-lefty matchup between two 6-foot-3 powerhouses. If you’re anticipating fireworks, you’ll be disappointed. Barron, displaying excellent poise for a freshman, looked at four balls and trotted to first base to keep the line moving. After a pitching change Noah Ruiz ripped a ball to left field to score two and the next batter Griffin Mills scored pinch runner Jake Yang on a sacrifice fly. In the inning the Wildcats scored three runs on just one hit, a single. This team has scored 17 and 13 in separate contests through their first three series, yet they live and die with a “pass the baton” mentality that seamlessly translates to success.
The Bad
Nitpicking in the midst of a five-game win streak is no fun, but it’s part of the job. For all the strides made on the mound, the walks piled up. Now, as you expand the zone with slow stuff to try and induce swinging strikes, you will walk more guys, but 19 walks over four games is simply unsustainable. It’s early in the season but as Northwestern faces more formidable offenses these free baserunners will be crossing the plate at a much higher clip.
Thankfully, the lineup provided enough thump to mitigate the negative impact of those walks, but two guys at the top of the order continue to struggle to open the 2026 campaign. Let me clarify that I am not worried about Jack Lausch and Ryan Kucherak moving forward, but it was a rough weekend for each of them. Lausch’s heroic walk-off single against Cornell was one of his four on the weekend over 20 at-bats. He slugged just .250, struck out five times and committed an error. Kucherak has similarly limped out of the gate. He went 3-of-18 without an extra-base hit. These two are gamers and they will find their groove, but it will be vital for them to find consistency in their swings before they face more consistently electric arms in conference play.
The Best
One of the many delights of a weekend sweep is the excess of standout performances. Noah Ruiz continues to hit and hit and hit, Jay Slater is a revelation behind the dish, but Nick Barron had a special time in Spartanburg. The freshman looks like a six-year graduate student in the box who bucks every trend you might have for a lefty mashing first baseman. Yes, he hit two home runs and yes he brought four runs in while only leaving three on base. Most impressively to me, however, is the fact that he walked more times than he struck out. You’re telling me the Wildcats have a freshman with legit pop who barely strikes out and has an on-base percentage above .400? Sign me up!
The Wildcats executed in all the granular areas of the game that so painfully swung the other way against Rice and they reaped the benefits. It was far from perfect; they were blessed with some wild inconsistency from opposing pitchers, but their job is to win and they did just that. Northwestern will stay in the south next weekend when they look to extend their winning streak in Atlanta against Georgia Tech.
