Northwestern baseball’s cherished tradition of playing at Wrigley Field filled the dugout and the stands with joy and humility. But it did not deliver a win this year, as Indiana (21-25, 7-15 B1G) used two offensive spurts and stifling pitching to outlast the Wildcats (17-25-1, 5-17 B1G) 9-2 on Friday night.
The fourth annual ‘Cats Classic unfolded under a fading sunset on a brisk 43-degree evening. The chilly weather did not deter fans from making the trip
to Wrigleyville. A flurry of spectators dressed in purple sweaters and beanies lined the third-base side, while the Hoosiers countered with supporters of their own bearing red attire along the first-base line. Ryan Weaver got the start for Northwestern, pitching five innings where he ceded six hits and five runs while striking out six. Sam Hliboki pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Meanwhile, Indiana’s starter Tony Neubeck pitched a six-inning shutout, walking four ‘Cats while striking out seven.
The Hoosiers’ offense jumped on Weaver early. Indiana’s Hogan Denny knocked a leadoff double in the top of the first before Jake Hanley singled to right field, where Jackson Freeman played the ball cleanly to hold Denny at third.
With runners at the corners and nobody out, a sacrifice fly from Owen ten Oever brought Denny home for the game’s first run. Weaver buckled down afterwards, securing a strikeout and flyout to hold Indiana’s lead at 1-0.
NU’s lone baserunner in the bottom of the first was Ryan Kucherak, who reached on a throwing error by shortstop Cooper Malamazian. Aside from that, the ‘Cats went quietly.
In the top half of the second frame, the leadoff runner again reached base off Weaver and advanced to third on two sacrifice groundouts. Weaver recorded a clutch strikeout to strand Landen Fry at third.
With two outs and nobody on in the second inning, Freeman recorded NU’s first hit of the game and de Groot drew a walk to put Freeman in scoring position. The inning ended with a whimper as Shane Hofstadler grounded out to third.
The third inning was marked by several self-inclifted errors for the Wildcats and Indiana made them pay for each one. Weaver induced a swinging strike three, but a passed ball put Hogan on first, making it three straight innings in which Indiana’s leadoff runner reached base. Two wild pitches then moved Hogan all the way to third.
The Hoosiers immediately took advantage, as Jake Hanley singled to right field to score Hogan and ten Oever followed by mashing a double into the left-center gap and off the green ivy to bring home Hanley and make it 3-0 Indiana.
Indiana’s offense didn’t stop there. Weaver hit a batter to put a second runner on and Landen Fry plated them both on a single to center field. The Northwestern left-hander got two-straight groundouts to strand Fry on base, but the damage was done. The ‘Cats found themselves in an early 5-0 hole after a four-run inning from IU.
Meanwhile, Neubeck continued to shut down Northwestern’s offense, pitching a scoreless inning around a leadoff walk to Owen McElfatrick.
Weaver and the defense turned in their cleanest inning in the fourth. The graduate student opened with a strikeout and though Denny reached on a single, Hofstadler caught him trying to steal second on a ball in the dirt. Weaver then recorded his second strikeout of the inning to keep the score at 5-0.
In the bottom half, NU stretched its reached base streak to four consecutive innings as Jake Yang poked a single to left field. With two outs, de Groot moved Yang into scoring position with a single, but Hofstadler lifted a high foul popout that was caught near the Wildcats’ dugout, leaving them empty handed through four frames.
Weaver tossed a scoreless frame in his final inning of work, capped off by a nice defensive play for the ‘Cats where McElfatrick laid out to snag a sharply hit ball and tossed a one-hopper to first for Nick Barron to scoop out of the dirt for the final out.
NU loaded two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth via a McElfatrick single and a Kucherak walk, but again, the ‘Cats were unable to capitalize, leaving its seventh and eighth runners on base.
Sam Hliboki took the mound for NU in the top of the sixth, plunking the first batter he saw. He appeared to hit the second as well, but after review, the umpires ruled that Moore interfered by bending his knee into the pitch, leading to IU head coach Jeff Mercer’s ejection. Hliboki induced a groundout and flyout to end the inning.
The Wildcats’ batters continued to be silenced in the bottom half of the sixth by Neubeck, eclipsing 100 pitches on a strikeout of Hofstadler. The theme of untimely hitting persisted for NU, as it stranded a runner in scoring position for the fourth time.
The Hoosiers threatened to grow their lead in the seventh, loading the bases with one out. Hliboki held firm, striking out both Fry and Cal Gates to keep the ‘Cats in it.
NU’s offense finally got on the board in the seventh inning, teeing off Neubeck’s replacement in Jacob Vogel. McElfatrick continued his strong night with a second base hit and Kucherak’s double moved him to third. For the first time on Friday night, the Wildcats had a runner on third.
Noah Ruiz plated both McElfatrick and Kucherak on a two-run RBI single to make it a 5-2 game.
After a sharp Barron lineout, Indiana’s second reliever of the night, Reagan Rivera, struck out Yang to end the inning.
The Hoosiers found their biggest rally of the night in the eighth against Tommy Bridges. A leadoff walk from Moore and a pair of singles by Denny and Hanley loaded the bases for IU. Bridges then hit ten Oever to plate a runner, Malamazian hit a sacrifice fly and Cole Decker launched a dagger of a triple into right center that cleared the bases, making it a 9-2 Indiana cushion.
Rivera slammed the door for the Hoosiers, striking out the final five batters he faced to secure the save and a 9-2 victory for Indiana in game one of the weekend tilt.
The Wildcats head back to Rocky and Berenice Miller Park for the remaining two games of their series against the Hoosiers. The games in Evanston are slated for Saturday, May 2nd at 2 p.m. CT and Sunday, May 3rd at 1 p.m. CT.
