Baseball: Northwestern drops series to UCLA to close out season

An improved season ended on a somber note for Northwestern

This weekend, Northwestern (25-27, 13-17 Big Ten) headed to the West Coast for a showdown against No. 13 UCLA (39-15, 22-8 Big Ten). Not only was it the first ever meeting between the two squads, but also was a must-win series for NU to keep its Big Ten Tournament hopes alive.

Instead, the ‘Cats dropped two of three to the Bruins, ending their season at 13th in the conference and narrowly missing the tournament. This series reflected NU’s season — improvement across the board in terms of prowess and resilience, but not enough firepower to outlast top-tier ball clubs.

The first game of the series showcased the former, as the ‘Cats secured their first win against a Top 15-ranked opponent since April 2015. The victory can be attributed to a home run party led by Ryan Kucherak, who shattered a school record with his 17th of the season. He started the scoring with a two-run home run to drive home Owen McElfatrick, who reached base on a fielding error. Kucherak went deep again off UCLA ace Ian May in the third inning, followed by Bennett Markinson teeing off a homer to left field to give NU a 4-0 advantage.

UCLA got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI double, but the Wildcats responded in the seventh inning. Kucherak continued his hot day with a double, and Lausch continued the home run hitting barrage with a moonshot over UCLA’s hitting facility in right field. This marked his third straight game with a homer, giving the ‘Cats a 6-1 lead.

NU starter Sam Hliboki had, for the most part, cruised through the game, with the only blip being the run given up in the fourth inning. UCLA got to him in the seventh inning, however, as Roch Cholowsky seemed inspired by the Wildcats’ home run hitting and launched his own, a three-run bomb that cut the lead to 6-4.

But Northwestern’s offense refused to lie down, as they added three insurance runs in the top of the ninth. These came on a wild pitch that scored Markinson, followed by back-to-back singles from Jacob Hand and Marty Kaplan to widen the lead to 9-4.

While NU’s offense stayed up, Crawford Wade put the Bruins to bed with 2.2 scoreless innings in relief, earning his fifth save of the season and punctuating an impressive win for the ‘Cats.

This momentum failed to carry over to Saturday’s game, however. UCLA’s bats were awake against Northwestern starting pitcher Matthew Kouser. They raked three runs off Kouser in the first inning, with Mulivai Levu hitting a two-run RBI double to give the Bruins an early 2-0 lead. They added to it in the second inning, with Cholowsky mashing a two-run home run to center field and an RBI single from Roman Martin. After just two innings, UCLA held a 5-0 lead.

The Wildcats’ bats were unable to get anything going off UCLA pitcher Michael Barnett, who ceded only one hit through the first four innings. NU got on the board in the top of the fifth with an RBI double from Tyler Ganus and a sacrifice fly from Jacob Hand to plate two runs, making it a 5-2 lead. But UCLA got both runs back in the bottom of the sixth inning and tacked on another in the seventh. NU’s offense was shut down the remainder of the game as the Bruins tied the series with an 8-2 victory.

Sunday’s series finale was do-or-die for NU’s tournament chances. Ryan Kucherak continued to make history with a home run in the first inning, marking his 18th of this season. It was also his 15th home run in conference play, the most in the Big Ten.

However, Kucherak’s historic moment was the only Wildcat highlight from this game. NU left-hander Blake MacMillan got the start and struggled to contain UCLA’s potent offense, surrendering seven runs through four innings. The scoring began in the bottom of the first with a two-run RBI double, followed by four runs in the fourth inning on three straight hits from the Bruins after loading the bases.

The score was 6-1 after four innings, and the Bruins kept adding on with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth, an RBI groundout and two-run blast in the sixth inning and an RBI single in the seventh that ended the game on a run-rule, as the Bruins won 11-1 and ended Northwestern’s season.

Despite a disappointing finish, NU saw growth and improvement across the board in Ben Greenspan’s second season. It finished with a winning percentage of .481, its highest since 2005, and had its highest Big Ten winning percentage since 2019. The ‘Cats also had a program-high 73 home runs, with much of that stemming from Kucherak and Trent Liolios’ incredible seasons.

The Wildcats will have a long offseason to build on this season’s progress and continue developing a team that can shrink the gap between themselves and their fellow Big Ten foes.