Northwestern baseball couldn’t keep pace with No. 5 Georgia Tech this past weekend, suffering a three-game sweep at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta in which it was outscored 44-12.
The Wildcats (5-5) struggled to contain the Yellow Jackets’ high-powered offense, with two games ending in a run-rule as the deficit grew to double-digits. This series was bound to be a major challenge for the Wildcats, but also a test of how they’d fair against one of the strongest teams in the nation. The results weren’t
pretty.
Game 1: Georgia Tech 17, Northwestern 3 (run-rule)
The ‘Cats rode into this game on a five-win streak, and the momentum was evident early. In the top of the first inning, Ryan Kucherak launched a two-run home run, his first of the season, to plate Jack Lausch and provide NU a fast 2-0 start. Georgia Tech got those runs right back, however, in the bottom of the first off Wildcat starter Sam Hliboki. From there, the Yellow Jackets’ offense went on a scoring crusade, putting up seven runs in the second inning, one in the third and five in the fourth to open up a 15-2 lead.
The Wildcats got some more runs on the board in the fifth inning, courtesy of Kucherack, who hit an RBI double to score Jack Counsell. But that was all NU’s offense could muster, as Georgia Tech piled on two more runs in the fifth inning and secured the run-rule win.
Kucherack’s performance was the biggest silver lining from this loss. He went 2-of-4 with a home run and career-high three RBIs. Hliboki struggled on the mound, ceding nine runs in 1.2 innings.
Game 2: Georgia Tech 13, Northwestern 3 (run-rule)
Similar to the first game, this game was close in the first couple innings before Georgia Tech pulled away. The Yellow Jackets got on the board in the bottom of the first with three runs and four hits off Ryan Weaver. But the ‘Cats responded in the top of the second, starting with Logan De Grott poking an RBI single into center field that scored Jay Slater. With De Grott on first base, Jack Lausch stepped up the plate and mashed a ball into deep right field that left the park. It was Lausch’s second home run of the year, and it tied the game at 3-3.
But the vaunted Yellow Jacket offense went right back to work in the bottom half of the frame. Three straight singles netted two runs, but it could’ve been more had Noah Brocklebank not thrown out a runner at home plate. Nevertheless, Georgia Tech broke it open in the third. After Weaver loaded the bases, he hit leadoff hitter Drew Burress to walk in another run. With men on base and nowhere to put Nathanael Coupet, Weaver challenged him with a high fastball and Coupet was all over it, smashing a grand slam over De Groot’s head and above the wall in left field. The score ballooned to 10-3, and the Yellow Jackets tacked on three more — two in the fifth inning and a a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning — that ended the game on a run-rule.
It was an outing to forget for Weaver, who gave up eight runs on ten hits and two walks over 2.o innings pitched. Much like the first game, the Wildcat offense got quieter as the game went on and failed to produce runs that would pose any threat to Georgia Tech’s sizable lead.
Game 3: Georgia Tech 14, Northwestern 6
The final game was significantly more contentious than the previous two, even if the final score didn’t indicate so. Determined after two setbacks, the Wildcats’ bats were hot out of the gate in this one. After getting two hit by pitches and a single from Jackson Freeman to load the bases, Noah Ruiz snuck a hit through the right side that scored two runs. With Freeman and Ruiz advancing to scoring position on the following at-bat, Owen McElfatrick stepped up and doubled both runners home. In just the first inning, NU had jumped up 4-0.
But pattern recognition indicated the Yellow Jackets would have an answer. In the bottom half, Georgia Tech got two runs off Garrett Shearer to cut the lead in half. While the ‘Cats’ offense couldn’t sustain the momentum, their opponents took advantage and grabbed the lead in the bottom of fourth by stringing together a few hits to make it 5-4.
But unlike the past two games, Northwestern launched a comeback attempt. It was successful initially, as Kucherack got a leadoff walk, was advanced by a Freeman single and sacrifice bunt by Ruiz to score on an RBI groundout by Nick Barron. That tied the game at 5-5.
But low and behold, Georgia Tech punched back. Ryan Zuckerman hit his second home run to retake the lead. Then in the seventh and eight innings, the Yellow Jackets pulled away yet again. Through several home runs and singles, a 6-5 lead quickly became 14-5 heading into the ninth. The ‘Cats got the final run of the game on a Barron RBI single that scored Kucherack, giving the freshmen his first career multi-RBI game. But those runs served as pride points more than anything, as Georgia Tech completed the sweep.
Freeman was player of the game for NU, as he went 4-for-5 with a double and run scored. Shearer had the most successful outing of any Northwestern starting pitcher in this series, giving up just two runs in 2.1 innings.
NU will look to bounce-back from these losses at the Cambria Classic in Minneapolis next weekend, where it’ll matchup against South Dakota State, Omaha and UNLV.
