Entering this weekend, Northwestern baseball was 1-2 on the young season after a mildly disappointing first series against Rice. Now, after winning four straight games this weekend -- two against Cornell and two against Boston College -- the 'Cats have righted the ship.
It all started with an outpouring of offense on Friday, when the 'Cats downed Cornell by a score of 13-5. Sam Hliboki allowed four earned runs in five innings of work, and that was more than good enough.
Then, on Saturday, Northwestern played a bizarre double-header against both Cornell and Boston College. In the rematch with Cornell, the game came down to the wire and went to extra innings. The 'Cats ultimately won 6-5 in the 11th frame on a 2-RBI Jack Lausch single.
NU went with a committee approach on the bump in that game, starting Garrett Shearer and using five pitchers to get the job done. Christian Forniss was the most impressive, tossing three scoreless innings and striking out four. His stuff is nasty, and it seems like he might be coming into his own.
Offensively, the 'Cats struggled for much of the game and actually trailed 4-1 entering the ninth inning. But they rallied behind a massive run-scoring single from Noah Ruiz and a sac-fly from left fielder Griffin Mills to tie the score and send it to extras. The rest is history.
In their second game of the day, Northwestern won another tight one, 5-4 over BC. The 'Cats were down once again in the back half of the game, this time 4-2 in the sixth. That's when designated hitter Nick Barron crushed his second homer of the weekend, and then Jack Counsell hit a 2-RBI triple to give the Wildcats the advantage.
From there, Jake Rifenburg was able to close things out for Northwestern, pitching 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball. He came in to relieve Ryan Weaver who started the game and managed 5.1 innings while allowing four runs (three earned).
Today, Northwestern and Boston College met again, and it was another close game. Tied 1-1 in the fifth inning, the Golden Eagles put a crooked two on the box score to bury NU in a 3-1 hole.
For a while there, it didn't look like they had enough firepower left to mount a comeback, but things changed in the top of the 8th. Needing a bloop and a bomb, the Wildcats decided to do things the old fashioned way and just keep the line moving.
Jay Slater had an RBI hit. Counsell had a sac-fly. McElfatrick walked with the bases loaded. Barron did the same. When it was all said and done, the 'Cats had put up a seven-spot in the inning, and they took a commanding 8-3 lead.
The Golden Eagles scored two in the late innings, but it wasn't enough, and Northwestern was able to complete its perfect, 4-0 weekend.
The 'Cats now sit at 5-2 on the season as they prepare to take on Georgia Tech next weekend in Atlanta.