The good, the bad and the best: Northwestern swept in demoralizing home series

It’s at this point in the college baseball season — halfway through conference play — when disappointed fans begin to doubt whether their pre-season dreams were just that, dreams. With 15 Big Ten games to go, the book is far from shut on the Wildcats, but their performance against Purdue at home over the weekend certainly didn’t imbue fans with hope for the home stretch. The Boilermakers came into Evanston and cruised to a sweep; across 28 innings, Northwestern held a lead for two of them.

It just feels like the Wildcats can’t get out of their own way: when the pitching delivers, the bats fall flat and when the offense explodes, the arms can’t deliver. I’ve preached all year that the ‘Cats excel in the little areas, but you can’t out-hustle the second worst run differential in the Big Ten. So, let’s assess a brutal weekend.

The Good There wasn’t much “good” across the board for Northwestern this weekend, but save a ninth inning blow-up in the series finale, the arms stayed (mostly) competitive throughout the series. Before that fateful seven-run Boilermaker explosion to seal the sweep, it was death by 1000 paper cuts. James Whitaker fell victim to the long ball, allowing three home runs while only striking out one, but Alex Grant and Drew Dickson held it down later in relief to keep the ‘Cats within striking range.

In game two, the 6’6 righty Matt Kouser shined, allowing just one earned run and zero extra-base hits through six innings. Walks continue to limit Kouser’s length, as he leads the Big Ten in free passes allowed, but the stuff and frame is there for him to be a major arm going forward for the ‘Cats. I know, the story sounds awfully similar to how it did going into the season, where young arms making a leap with their command and execution will be the x-factor, but those were rooted in the athletic nature of this pitching staff.