Northwestern continued to struggled against Big Ten opponents, this time dropping three to Minnesota. Read @DonovanW6013’s recap of the weekend series:

The season is starting to go off the rails for Northwestern (16-24-1, 5-16 B1G) as it failed to secure a single win in a weekend series at Minnesota (26-17, 8-13 B1G). The Wildcats lost all three games by multiple runs and have lost nine Big Ten games in a row. Northwestern and Minnesota entered the weekend staring at each other in the basement of the conference standings, yet only one team acted with a sense of urgency; the ‘Cats helplessly watched the Gophers use their claws as rungs of a ladder, while their paws didn’t provide them the grip they needed to claw out of the trenches of the conference.

Game 1: Minnesota 13, Northwestern 1 (7 innings) ​Minnesota came out hot, loading the bases only four batters into the bottom of the first inning. Northwestern’s starter Jake Rifenburg did his best to limit the early threat, a sacrifice fly the only RBI the Gophers logged, but the message was sent: Minnesota’s offense was hungry. After Northwestern failed to push across any runs in the second, Minnesota struck again.

Jack Bello’s home run to left doubled the Gophers’ lead, the scoreboard reading 2-0 after two. Northwestern’s response started with Jack Lausch doubling to leadoff the third. After a sac fly and a Noah Ruiz RBI groundout, Lausch trotted across home plate, but an early Minnesota pitching change prevented the ‘Cats from pouncing any further.

Minnesota’s third time up meant more runs. After Rifenburg induced outs to the first two batters he faced, the Gophers began their rally. Four singles and a walk later, Northwestern trailed 5-1, so the ‘Cats made a call to the bullpen.