In a midweek series with Kansas (22-28, 7-11 Big 12), the Northwestern Wildcats (15-33, 5-13 B1G) baseball team twice fell victim to clutch Jayhawk home runs in a two-game sweep, losing 6-2 on Tuesday and 10-7 on Wednesday.
On Tuesday afternoon, coming off an 11-0 loss on Sunday to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Northwestern again fell behind early. The 'Cats pulled even with the Jayhawks in the bottom of the second, tying the score at one with an RBI single from freshman Grant Peikert. But that was as close as NU would get. After pulling ahead 2-1 in the top of the third, KU exploded for four runs in the fourth with home runs from two freshmen to make it 6-1. Sophomore Joe Schindler absorbed all of the Jayhawks' damage, and the bullpen shut them down in the remaining five innings, but the Wildcat bats went cold when it mattered. NU outhit KU 13-9, but still fell, 6-2.
The next day, with a dense fog looming over the field, the 'Cats were determined to snap their two-game losing streak. After a back-and-forth contest, NU and KU found themselves tied at four through six innings. But sophomore RJ Watters broke through the deadlock with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to give the 'Cats a 6-4 lead heading into the last two innings. Then, the wheels came off in the top of the ninth. After a leadoff error, Kansas senior Dakota Smith tied things up quickly with a two-run shot off sophomore pitcher Joe Hoscheit. Hoscheit recovered to get two outs, but a hit-by-pitch, single and walk loaded the bases for freshman TJ Martin, who did not miss his pitch. Martin deposited a 1-0 pitch over the leftfield wall for a grand slam that gave KU a 10-6 lead and all but put things out of reach, capping off a six-run frame. NU scored a garbage run in its final at-bat, but ultimately fell 10-7.
Northwestern has just six games remaining in its schedule, all conference contests. The 'Cats will travel to Ann Arbor on Friday for a weekend series before welcoming Maryland to Evanston on May 14.