Northwestern played the Hawkeyes close in a couple games, but couldn’t finish late in games.
Northwestern (13-30, 2-16 B1G) traveled to Iowa City to take on the Hawkeyes (28-18, 13-8 B1G) this weekend. The ‘Cats were on a four-game skid when they got to town for the three-game set. The goal for the road trip was attempting to break that streak and turn around what’s been a somewhat lackluster season in conference play.
Game one featured Luke Benneche on the mound for Northwestern. The senior has had an up-and-down campaign, and was coming off a rough start against Purdue in which he allowed six earned runs in three innings. He bounced back against Iowa, giving up just one run (unearned) in four innings of work for the ‘Cats.
NU got on the board first, jumping on Iowa starter Anthony Watts in the top of the first. Jackson Freeman provided the first RBI of the series on a sacrifice fly, and then Griffin Arnone chipped in with an RBI-single to give the ‘Cats a 2-0 advantage.
Iowa got one back in the bottom half before both offenses put the bats away for an extended period. The game would drag into the eighth inning before any more runs were scored. Trent Liolios finally broke the ice, knocking in Tony Livermore on a single to give the ‘Cats a 3-1 lead.
At that point, Matt McClure had entered the game for Northwestern, and he was pitching well. With three clean innings under his belt, McClure was admirably protecting the lead as he trotted back out to the mound in the eighth inning.
Things imploded for him in that frame, though. The Iowa lineup finally came alive, scoring three runs off McClure and chasing him from the ballgame. Northwestern couldn’t scratch one across the plate in the ninth, and that was all she wrote for an excruciatingly close game one.
In game two, Northwestern scored first again on another Jackson Freeman sac-fly. Ben Greenspan tabbed Jack Dyke for the start, and he was very solid. The 6’4” righty allowed no runs on just three hits in four innings.
The problem for Northwestern was that dominant Iowa ace Brody Brecht was toeing the rubber on Saturday. True to form, he spun a gem, allowing just one run in eight innings of work. He’s a major leaguer, no doubt about it.
After Dyke’s clean performance, Northwestern’s bullpen couldn’t keep up with Brecht’s dominance. By the seventh inning, Iowa had a 4-1 lead that felt like a 20-1 lead. The final score was 9-2 as the ‘Cats dropped the second game of the series. After Dyke left the game at the top of the fifth, the next four Northwestern pitchers combined to give up seven hits and six walks in just five innings.
Game three was a closer contest. Iowa got on the board first, scoring two runs in the first two innings off Northwestern starter Kyle Potthoff. Iowa’s starter, Marcus Morgan, held the ‘Cats scoreless for a while, but things started to break down in the fifth when Bennett Markinson drove in a run on a walk.
The ‘Cats scored two more runs in the sixth, courtesy of Drewbie Pinkston and Preston Knott. Both had RBIs to give Northwestern the lead, and the Wildcats’ three hits in the inning were enough to give them a slight edge. Iowa scored three in the bottom half of the inning, though, getting to relievers Nolan Morr and Garrett Shearer.
But Northwestern wouldn’t quit. NU got two runs back in the seventh to tie the ballgame at five, and the score stayed deadlocked into extra innings. After allowing a run early in his appearance, Shearer shoved for 5.1 innings, holding Iowa scoreless from the seventh inning to the 12th.
In the 13th inning, however, with Justin Doyle now in the game for the ‘Cats, Iowa finally broke through on a Kellen Strohmeyer walk-off single. Northwestern was swept for the second time in as many weekends, and stretched its losing streak to seven games. The losses also dropped the Wildcats even further back in the Big Ten: they’re now two games back of 12th-place Rutgers, and 11 games back of conference leader Illinois.
The ‘Cats will be back in action this Tuesday at home against Eastern Illinois at 3:30 C.T..