After extending their conference losing streak to ten games on Friday, if you had told me Northwestern wouldn’t win another Big Ten series in 2026, I would’ve wholeheartedly believed you. College baseball, though, rarely makes much sense, so naturally the ‘Cats bounced back with two straight victories to take the series against Indiana and kickstarted just their second conference winning streak of the season.
Northwestern earned some unconventional victories, but in the midst of such a disastrous
skid, you’ll take them however you can.
The Good
What felt great about earning the gutsy series win was how despite playing far from a perfect brand of baseball, the ‘Cats earned leads and, just as importantly, held them. These types of go-ahead, stay-ahead wins have eluded Northwestern all season long; their run differential in their five earlier conference wins was just six, a tally they matched in two wins over the weekend. Much of this credit goes to the bullpen, who surrendered just four runs across 9 ⅔ innings in the victories. For an offense that needs to slug, the knowledge that the pitchers can protect leads is absolutely critical to ensure that hitters don’t press more than they already do.
On that note, the offense played two quite polar, yet similarly effective, games on Saturday and Sunday. In the middle game of the series, it was great situational hitting, capitalizing on free passes and a Jack Lausch bomb that allowed the ‘Cats to score seven times despite recording just five hits. On Sunday, the clutch gene evaded them, but they slugged and walked their way to nine runs.
The Bad
Northwestern’s starting pitching has been inconsistent all year. In its Big Ten opener against USC, they looked like a serious unit. But against Washington, Michigan and even Indiana, they looked uncompetitive and dug themselves into some serious holes. Wildcats starters went 13 ⅓ innings, allowing ten earned runs and striking out 11. As we’ve seen, Greenspan rarely gets multiple games in a series where more than one starter will eat innings which puts major tax on his bullpen and fatigues his arms early in the weekend. The issue reared its head again against Indiana despite the series victory. In fact, across the weekend, the Hoosiers outscored the Wildcats 11-9 in the first three innings. With an offense as inconsistent as Northwestern’s this year, the faltering starting pitching has put them out of games as early as the fourth inning far too often.
The Best
Jack Lausch took an ugly 0-5 with three strikeouts in the series opener. He quickly erased that performance from his memory, though. In the two remaining weekend contests, he got on base eight times, launched two bombs and tallied ten total bases. Lausch is the best athlete on this roster and when he gets it going he is capable of making plays on both sides of the ball that none of his teammates are able to. It is a sight to see. His stunning season has gone largely under the radar in the midst of the ‘Cats’ struggles: his 1.038 OPS is highest on the team by more than 100 points, he’s already almost doubled his walk total from 2025 and he is second on the team in stolen bases. Lausch is truly a rare talent who touts five serious tools. Who knows where this team would be without him.
The ‘Cats have captured some momentum going into the home stretch of 2026, which is all fans can ask for. If they can keep it going against the rival Illini in Champaign over the weekend, Ben Greenspan may salvage some positive notes from an otherwise disappointing campaign as the offseason begins.
