The Northwestern Wildcats are looking to have a good season which saw them upset Michigan in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament. Head Coach Spencer Allen says the team has good momentum heading into the year. “We did not get off to a good start last year,” Allen said. “We will be able to catch fire toward the end of the season. I think we have a lot of momentum going into the start of the season, so I’m really excited about the year starting and what we have as a ball club,” Allen continued.
The pitching staff will look similar to last year as a lot of pitchers will be coming back. It will be led by sophomore pitcher Hank Christie. Christie went 4-0 in his last 6 starts for Northwestern last season and ended with an ERA of 1.54. Senior Tommy Bordignon will also be a factor pitching wise for the Wildcats as he made 13 appearances and 6 starts last season. Sophomore Josh Levy will also be returning for the Wildcats this season.
The infield will be the biggest strength for Northwestern this season. Shortstop Jack Dunn is back and Allen says that Dunn has gotten a lot faster since last year. He went .231 from the plate and had 49 hits, seven doubles, and 20 RBI’s last year for Northwestern. Third baseman Connor Lind is back as well. He had a .255 batting average last year and also had 47 hits, 8 doubles, and 3 home runs. Alex Erro will be returning to play second base for the Wildcats this season. He had a 17 game hitting streak last season, the longest for a Northwestern Wildcat since 2008. Willie Bourbon will be at first base for the Wildcats. Doing the catching will be Jack Claeys but expect to see freshman Jack Kelly get some playing time as well for Northwestern.
In the outfield will be Ben Dickey in right field. He will also likely be the leadoff man in the lineup for Northwestern. He batted .237 last year and also had 28 hits. He also was second on the team with 10 stolen bases. Leo Kaplan will be in left field this year. He brought offense to the team last year with 8 doubles, a triple and also hit 4 home runs. In centerfield will be Jack Dunn’s brother, David Dunn, who Allen is very excited about. “He can really, really run as a center fielder,” Allen said. “We are excited about him and can’t wait to see what he can do on the field,” Allen continued.
The Big Ten Baseball Conference is a tough conference and Allen thinks this year could be a big year for the conference overall. “This is my sixth year with different teams in this conference,” Allen said. “Every year there is a team that will take off and have a good year, but the rest of teams will be a battle. There will be some teams that will be left out of the Big Ten Tournament. The teams are just so equally matched and it provides a lot of battles throughout the year,” Allen commented.
For Northwestern to have a good year in the Big Ten, Allen says they will have to be consistent. “When you look at teams who didn’t make the tournament, they usually have a two week stretch where they go 1-5 or 0-6,” Allen said. “With only 24 conference games, you can’t have two bad weekends in a row if you want to make the tournament. You can have one bad week, but if you have two bad weekends, it’s really hard for you to bounce back. We just have to stay consistent so we can avoid that stretch,” Allen continued.
Northwestern will start the season on February 16th. They will take on Nebraska Omaha. There first home game will be on March 10th against MacMurray College