By Chris Gentilviso The Daily Northwestern
Five hours after the first pitch was thrown Sunday afternoon, frustration began to set in for Northwestern.
With a two-hour rain delay and three losses already in the books, the Wildcats stared at a 13-run deficit heading into the ninth inning of game four against visiting Michigan. On the verge of striking out for the fourth time in the game, junior Antonio Mulé walloped an 0-2 fastball over the left field fence, his third home run of the season.
"We couldn't go out like that," said Mulé, who was 2 for 13 with six strikeouts in the series prior to the at-bat. "We wanted to put something together and go out with a bang."
After six scoreless innings, the rest of the Cats followed Mulé's script. Seven of NU's next nine hitters reached base, leading to a six-run onslaught. Trailing 14-7, senior outfielder Caleb Fields stepped to the plate with two on, but struck out, ending NU's hopes of a miraculous comeback.
The Cats' lineup struggled mightily in its opening Big Ten series, going 27 for 116 (.232) in the four-game set. Of the 15 runs scored by NU, nine came in the final innings, while facing multi-run deficits.
In game one Saturday, the Cats faced a 7-1 deficit heading into the seventh and final inning. After three singles and a couple of walks, NU closed the gap to 7-4. Mulé came to the plate representing the tying run, but flew out to center.
"We never count ourselves out of games," senior catcher Geoff Dietz said. "No matter what goes wrong, we just can't waste innings out there."
Dietz played significant roles in both late-game comeback attempts, with an RBI single Saturday and a 3-run home run Sunday. But like Mulé, he entered the ninth inning of game four on the edge of the dreaded golden sombrero: 0 for 3, three strikeouts.
Coach Paul Stevens stressed the importance of playing a full game, versus getting started in the last inning.
"Between the one (run) in the sixth we had a (bunch) of zeros," Stevens said. "We've got to try to do some things a little sooner, rather than waiting until that last minute."
As the Cats' hitters sputtered, Michigan's lineup produced instant offense. In the four games, the Wolverines hit four first-pitch home runs. Most damaging was a shot by junior catcher Doug Pickens, who took the first pitch freshman Joe Muraski threw after the rain delay over the 400-foot sign in center field.
Michigan never looked back. And with a look of exhaustion, Dietz gave credit where due.
"Those guys are a great club," he said. "They're always on top of the Big Ten. We had a great opportunity to take it to them but we didn't get it done."
Reach Chris Gentilviso at c-gentilviso@northwestern.edu.
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