The season is starting to go off the rails for Northwestern (16-24-1, 5-16 B1G) as it failed to secure a single win in a weekend series at Minnesota (26-17, 8-13 B1G). The Wildcats lost all three games by multiple runs and have lost nine Big Ten games in a row.
Northwestern and Minnesota entered the weekend staring at each other in the basement of the conference standings, yet only one team acted with a sense of urgency; the ‘Cats helplessly watched the Gophers use their claws as rungs of a ladder,
while their paws didn’t provide them the grip they needed to claw out of the trenches of the conference.
Game 1: Minnesota 13, Northwestern 1 (7 innings)
Minnesota came out hot, loading the bases only four batters into the bottom of the first inning. Northwestern’s starter Jake Rifenburg did his best to limit the early threat, a sacrifice fly the only RBI the Gophers logged, but the message was sent: Minnesota’s offense was hungry.
After Northwestern failed to push across any runs in the second, Minnesota struck again. Jack Bello’s home run to left doubled the Gophers’ lead, the scoreboard reading 2-0 after two.
Northwestern’s response started with Jack Lausch doubling to leadoff the third. After a sac fly and a Noah Ruiz RBI groundout, Lausch trotted across home plate, but an early Minnesota pitching change prevented the ‘Cats from pouncing any further.
Minnesota’s third time up meant more runs. After Rifenburg induced outs to the first two batters he faced, the Gophers began their rally. Four singles and a walk later, Northwestern trailed 5-1, so the ‘Cats made a call to the bullpen. Garrett Shearer ended the inning, but the damage had already been done.
Then came the bottom of the fifth.
Weber Neels’ three-run home run pushed the Minnesota lead to seven and was the antepenultimate nail in the coffin for Shearer’s outing. Christian Forniss came in relief two batters later, but after a pair of HBPs and balking home a run, his day was done. Dominic DeLoreto stepped up to be the next Wildcat pitching victim. Bello immediately hit his second home run of the day, this time a three-run shot and Minnesota took a 13-1 lead after five innings.
Northwestern couldn’t pick itself off the mat and the game ended after six and a half innings with the Gophers winning by 12.
Game 2: Minnesota 7, Northwestern 3
The second game of the series started out a little slower. Ethan Cole’s solo home run to leadoff the third inning for Minnesota was the lone run scored in the game through five innings.
Yet, Bello continued tormenting Northwestern, hitting a ground-rule double in the bottom of the sixth to restart the scoring for both sides. Bello came around to score on a wild pitch and put the Gophers up 2-0.
Northwestern’s Jay Slater responded in a big way a few frames later.
A Jackson Freeman single and a Jake Yang walk placed two ducks on the pond in the top of the eighth when Slater strolled to the plate. Minnesota made its second pitching change of the game, but that turned out to be a bad decision. Slater’s three-run homer off of Brandon Jaenke gave Northwestern its first lead of the series, 3-2 and with that came momentum for the Wildcats.
That momentum was quickly vanished.
Cole hit another leadoff home run in the bottom of the eighth to tie the score and from there, the ‘Cats started to crumble. Walks, balks, passed balls and wild pitches; things got ugly for Northwestern. Minnesota scored five runs on three hits in the eighth to go up 7-3 and snatch game two of the series.
Game 3: Minnesota 7, Northwestern 2
Northwestern’s Matt Kouser and Minnesota’s Cole Selvig dominated game three early on from the mound. Through five innings, Selvig faced the minimum number of batters possible and Kouser’s timely strikeouts prevented any Gopher runs.
Then, seemingly summing up NU’s season, things fell apart.
Neels hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth, signaling the beginning of the end for Kouser. Drew Dickson was the first out the bullpen in the seventh, but after a series of errors, walks and singles, he retreated off the mound after only two outs and three more Minnesota runs.
The next bullpen call brought Justin Fryer to the mound, who surrendered a double to the first batter he faced. The Gophers walked back into the dugout leading 7-0 after seven.
Yang and Owen McElfatrick picked up RBIs for the ‘Cats in the eighth inning, but the game was too far out of reach. Minnesota secured the sweep with a 7-2 game three victory, sending NU back to Evanston still winless in Big Ten play since April 5.
Northwestern now turns its attention to Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 28, at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park, but a weekend series against a struggling Indiana team looms large in the distance. NU’s next conference series kicks off with the ‘Cats Classic at Wrigley Field on Friday, May 1.
