NU's Slide Continues (Baseball)

By Chris Gentilviso The Daily Northwestern

"Let's get it done."

Bleeding from 15 losses in 19 April games, Northwestern coach Paul Stevens repeatedly encouraged his players during Tuesday afternoon's game to open May on a different note.

With NU trailing 5-4 and down to its final out, Wildcats' senior catcher Geoff Dietz walked to the plate as the go-ahead run. Dietz fouled off five consecutive pitches after the home plate umpire granted him a new life on a questionable check-swing call.

But on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Dietz came up empty, striking out to give Northern Illinois the one-run victory.

"We've just been a little short," Stevens said. "I like how (the players) battled. We had a few opportunities and a couple of miscues that cost us, but they battled and stayed in there."

The Huskies jumped on NU (10-30) and starter David Jensen in the opening frame. First baseman Scott Simon blasted a three-run home run over the right field scoreboard, giving Northern Illinois (23-15) a 3-0 lead.

Trailing 4-1 in the fifth inning, the Cats chipped away. Senior Caleb Fields roped his first home run of the season, scoring junior Antonio Mulé and cutting the Huskies' lead to one. After consecutive walks by Northern Illinois starter Brandon Copp, sophomore Tommy Finn ripped a single to left, tying the game at four.

But from that point on, the offense went cold. The Huskies' bullpen tandem of Andrew Deain and Matt German held the Cats to one hit - senior Mike Kalina's ninth-inning single.

Coming into the game, Deain and German had given up seven earned runs in 54.1 innings, a combined ERA of 1.16.

"This a tough one," Kalina said. "We were right there and we hit when we needed to. It's encouraging but we wanted to win."

The Cats' outfielder continued his torrid hitting, going 3 for 5 with three singles. Eleven hits in his last six games have jumped the senior's average from sub-.200 territory to .254 on the season.

Three walks in the eighth inning gave NU hope of mounting a comeback. But Fields couldn't repeat his earlier blast, lining out to center.

"It's little things that we weren't able to accomplish," Fields said. "It's a small margin, but we had so many opportunities."

Of the season-high 58 runs allowed in last weekend's Iowa series, 24 came in the final four innings. But senior Andrew Smith kept the Huskies at bay, yielding one run in four innings. That run turned out to be the game winner, helped across by a passed ball and fielder's choice.

"It's very frustrating," said Smith, who dropped to 0-3 on the season. "Sometimes when we've lost in the past, it's because we haven't been playing well in all aspects of the game. Today we played well in those aspects, but we couldn't get a 'W.'"

Since the start of Big Ten play in late March, NU's failure to close games has been fatal, leading to a 2-6 record in one-run contests.

Entering the final month of his NU career, Fields said the Cats' success from here on out will come down to the team's willingness to show up.

"We have to keep showing up," he said. "Even if you come up short, you have to keep showing up."

Reach Chris Gentilviso at c-gentilviso@northwestern.edu.