Diamond Deep Dive Week 12: The Conclusion

The ride is over.

As it turns out, Northwestern baseball was not fit to enjoy the grassy plains of Eastern Nebraska this year. The ‘Cats will have to wait for 2025 to see their next shot at the Big Ten Tournament.

UCLA proved too tough a test for a ‘Cats team trying in vain to surpass the Michigan State Spartans, who held the tiebreaker after a back-and-forth series in East Lansing earlier this season.

That being said, the UCLA series had some bright spots, many of which I managed to predict a few weeks ago. Crawford Wade and Christian Forniss both proved excellent additions on the mound against a UCLA lineup with some dominant left-handed bats. I would’ve liked to see a start from Christian Forniss personally, or to save his arm for a more pivotal game three, but alas, he allowed the ‘Cats to keep game two within reach for four innings.

Game one was also an impressive showing for a Northwestern lineup that matched up very well against UCLA ace Ian May due to its propensity for home runs and May’s lack of ability to keep balls in the park. They exploded for three homers in the first three innings, knocking May out after 2 ¹⁄₃ innings. In the end, however, it wasn’t enough, as Northwestern will be watching the rest of the season from the sidelines.

In the spirit of recapping what remained a surprising season, it’s worth looking both backward and forward. Today, it’s about giving the clock all sorts of confusion as we turn back to three things that the ‘Cats excelled in, as well as three areas of improvement for 2026.

Points of purple pride

The ‘Cats grew, changed and developed in many ways. Whether they were being led by a slew of excellent transfers or a gaggle of returners, the team certainly had some major victories throughout.

The power surge

This has been the storyline all season. Bob Brucato’s record of 15 home runs in Northwestern purple fell at the hands of Trent Liolios. However, Brucato still had the record as a right-hander… for a handful of days.

Unfortunately for Brucato, but perhaps fortunately for Northwestern baseball fans, Ryan Kucherak ended the season on top of the Northwestern home run charts with 18. This also increased the team’s home run total by over 20 from last season, from 52 to 73.

This step could be huge for Northwestern next season, as both Liolios and Kucherak have additional years of eligibility, with the former being a junior and the latter being a sophomore.

Toe-to-toe with every foe

The Wildcats finished the season at 13-17 in Big Ten play. While this doesn’t look otherworldly on the surface, it’s worth noting their performance against some excellent competition. While no matchup with Oregon, a top-five team per D1Baseball.com, happened in 2025, Northwestern still had to contend with the likes of tournament teams in UCLA and Iowa, the first of which will likely be hosting their own regional.

UCLA dropped the first game of the series to Northwestern in the city of angels, while Iowa lost the rubber match in Evanston. Comparatively, baseball is one of the more unpredictable sports at the collegiate level, where upsets tend to be a bit more common, especially through the course of a three-game series. That being said, Northwestern delivered solid performances in this regard.

While there were some non-competitive midweek matchups, including the likes of Northern Illinois, I don’t put much weight into these considering the best pitching will be resting ahead of a weekend series. In the end, when conference play began, some of the performances from Northwestern proved to be excellent, showing that they can compete with some top-notch teams.

Late-season development from the youngsters

Ok, I’m 20 years old. Maybe saying youngsters frames me as some Little League coach on the verge of retirement, but I’m running with it. Not every first-year is going to come out of the gate as the second coming of Mike Trout. Or, perhaps Mel Ott if you’re that Little League coach. Northwestern had several players like this, who started off needing some time to develop before settling in as the year went on.

I mentioned Kucherak earlier, and while he isn’t a true first-year, he was limited to just 12 at-bats with LSU, so this was his first season with regular playing time. While the non-conference slate left something to be desired out of the shortstop, he exploded in Big Ten play to set those aforementioned records.

Christian Forniss is someone I’ve discussed a fair bit in these columns who has shown some excellent development. From starting the season struggling to put batters away to ending the season as one of the more reliable arms on head coach Ben Greenspan’s staff, the first-year has positioned himself to be a potential ace by Year Two. He’ll have to compete with sophomore Garrett Shearer, who is likely to return, as well as Matthew Kouser, who entered the rotation from day one as a first-year. However, if the ‘Cats had to go to Omaha tomorrow without any of their graduating players, I’d be throwing Forniss on the mound.

Utah-native Zach Carlson also saw some more time at the plate as the season wound to a halt. The first-year proved to be an excellent contact-first bat who could draw a walk. While he didn’t show much power in a small sample, this could be an excellent way to balance out a power-hungry ‘Cats lineup in future seasons. The big issue with Carlson’s season was his strikeout numbers, which stood at a 38% clip. With some added patience, Carlson could cement himself in this lineup for years to come.

Patching up the pitfalls

This season, while an improvement, was far from ideal for a team competing in the Big Ten and looking to make a run in future years. Whether there are holes that plagued them all season, or new woes that will have to be solved this offseason, the ‘Cats certainly have improvements to make.

Pitching inconsistencies

It’s no secret that the ‘Cats pitching looked outmatched at several points this year. They finished with an 8.40 ERA in conference play, second-worst only to Ohio State. It felt as though there would be a new great outing each week, but this was rarely sustainable. Northwestern would simply rely on who was hot during a given weekend.

If this team is going to make a run next season, this simply has to change. More consistency needs to be found in returning pitchers, with other arms who saw some occasional appearances needing to step up, too.

There were a variety of arms that showed glimpses of greatness and dominated in single-game performances or small samples, including Kouser and Forniss, as well as Amar Tsengeg, Jack Grunkemeyer and Alex Grant.

Graduates Galore

Greenpsan grabbed some high-level transfers in the portal last offseason, but in the case of a few, they were rentals, good for just one more season of eligibility. Sam Hliboki, Crawford Wade and Blake MacMillan were stalwart swingmen throughout 2025, alternating between starting and the bullpen. With five arms that consistently went out every series, Northwestern has lost 60% of them at the drop of a hat.

This is without mentioning some key players in the lineup. Northwestern will be without utility man Tyler Ganus, who saw most of his time at first base this season, Jacob Hand, who took over at second base mid-season and catcher Bennett Markinson.

Markinson leaving an opening at the catcher position will be perhaps the greatest task for Greenspan this offseason. While sophomore Joshua Ramos showed some promise in a small sample, he will need to take a major leap forward, which, this year, was quite doable with Northwestern’s coaching staff.

Who’s on First?

No, this is not a reference to the position swapping between Trent Liolios and Tyler Ganus, but about the team’s struggles to get on base in volume. Northwestern ranked last in the Big Ten in on-base percentage throughout the season, and, while this improved during conference play, their numbers remained well below average.

This team has proved time and time again that it can capitalize on the home run ball, and while this accounts for solid offensive production in the end, there has to be a bit more balance to create a well-rounded lineup. Watching this team throughout the season, there were just a few too many solo homers that could have been turned into two or three RBIs.

And with that, Diamond Deep Dive has come to a close for the final time of this season. Rest assured, more ‘Cats baseball is on the horizon.