Northwestern University Athletics
2006 Season in Review
6/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 14, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's baseball team enjoyed one of its most successful seasons in recent history. The Wildcats accomplished a number of `firsts.' It was the first time is school history an NU team won 21 Big Ten games. It was the first time in the Paul Stevens-era NU earned a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament. Stevens then won his 500th game as the head coach in the second-round of the Tournament. And, 2006 was the first time in school history a Wildcat team went through the entire Big Ten season without losing a best-of-four series.
The only problem was, NU finished the season 26-33. But don't let the overall record fool you; the Wildcats were definitely a team to reckon with once the conference season started. As a matter of fact, Northwestern held the lead or was tied for first place in the league standings until the final weekend. They ended the year 21-11, a seven-game improvement from the previous two seasons and set a school record for most conference wins in a season. As a team, NU had never won more than 15 games in any Big Ten season, which was done on five different occasions.
Due to less than ideal early spring weather in Evanston, NU opened 2006 with its first 19 games on the road. Unlike past seasons, NU fell on hard times but kept an optimistic outlook.
"We had done a lot of things well until that point," said Stevens. "I know our record didn't show it, but we had played some quality competition up till then. I'm not making any excuses, but I believed we would be a different team in conference play."
The first game--a 6-2 loss--didn't go so well against eventual regular-season champion Michigan. That loss put NU behind the eight-ball early. But baseball is a funny game and before you could say losing streak, the Wildcats reeled off three-straight victories to claim a 3-1 series win. In the three wins, the Northwestern offense did not score a run after the second inning and the pitching staff held the Wolverine offense to just six runs.
And just like the cliché goes, winning is contagious.
The next weekend, NU finally got to play a home series at Rocky Miller Park in Evanston. The Wildcats came out like gangbusters against the Indiana Hoosiers and won the first two games by a combined score of 16-3. After dropping game three, NU won the series finale and outscored the Hoosiers 22-10 for its second series win.
The surprise `Cats were in first place after two weeks and headed south to Champaign, Ill., to take on the University of Illinois in week three. The Wildcats had revenge on their mind, having lost all four games the previous season to the intrastate rival.
The short but sweet first-place ride looked like it was about to take a sharp nose-dive when the Illini came out and scored 10 runs in the first two innings in the series opener. But, like good teams do, NU bounced right back and won a wild affair 19-18. In a game in which the two teams combined for 37 runs on 46 hits, first baseman Pat McMahon stood out above the rest. The senior was named Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting for the cycle, which included two home runs. McMahon's cycle was the first for a Wildcat player since teammate Anthony Wycklendt completed the feat in 2003.
NU rode that momentum to win the first three games of the series before inclement weather shortened game four to just six and one-third innings. NU lost 3-1.
With its third series win in a row, NU was riding high in first place at 9-3 with five weeks to go in the league schedule. NU went 5-3 over the next two weeks, splitting the series at home with Penn State before taking three games at Iowa. In that Iowa series, senior Julio Siberio recorded one the Wildcats' best pitching performances of the season. The Florida native recorded saves in games 1 and 2 before earning the win in game four. He pitched two and two-third innings in game one (got the save), then pitched one inning in game two (got the save), before throwing the final five and one-third innings of the series finale (got the win).
NU kept right on trucking into next week, splitting a home series with Minnesota. After losing the series opener, juniors Dan Brauer and George Kontos threw back-to-back 1-0 games. Unfortunately for Kontos, he ended up on the wrong end of a 1-0 loss. NU won the series finale 9-8 for the split.
The following weekend, the Wildcats followed the arms of their pitchers. After a 6-3 Friday win behind Ryan Myers and Siberio, Brauer pitched Northwestern's first no-hitter since 1999 and the school's 13th all-time in a 7-0 win. Pitching the first of two games, Brauer struck out eight and allowed only two runners to reach base. It was his second-consecutive shutout and solidified his Big Ten Pitcher of the Year candidacy. NU won the series finale 12-2 to claim its fifth series of the season.
Two weeks later, Brauer was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. He started the season without earning a decision in his first five starts, but at the start of the Big Ten season he picked up right where he left off his 2004 campaign. In 2006 he was a remarkable 7-0 in league action and the team won all eight of his conference starts. He ended the regular season as the Big Ten strikeout leader in overall (90) and conference games (56).
After seven full weeks of the Big Ten season, Northwestern and Michigan were tied atop the standings heading into the final week. Both teams sported 19-9 conference records, with NU holding the tiebreaker because of its 3-1 record in head-to-head action.
Unfortunately for NU, Michigan swept all four games against Iowa, while the Wildcats split at Purdue, which gave the Wolverines the regular season title.
Even though the Wildcats did not win the regular season, they did earn themselves a first-round bye in the Big Ten tournament with a second-place finish, which was the team's best showing since a second-place effort in 1984. NU's 2006 tournament berth was the team's first since 2003.
With a 21-11 Big Ten record, six student-athletes were named to All-Big Ten teams. Along with Brauer's Big Ten Pitcher of the Year award, Stevens was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. It was his third Big Ten Coach of the Year honor after being voted top skipper in 1991 and 1995.
McMahon repeated his 2005 first-team accolade (as the DH) with a first-team first-baseman selection. Sophomore Antonio Mulé took McMahon's spot as the league's top designated hitter. Mulé led the league with 11 home runs to earn his first all-conference distinction. Brauer was a unanimous first-team starting pitcher.
Third baseman Caleb Fields earned second-team honors, while catcher Geoff Dietz and relief pitcher Siberio each garnered third-team All-Big Ten accolades.
In the postseason tournament, Northwestern ran into a talented Ohio State squad in its first game, falling 9-0.
NU rebounded with an 8-4 second-round win over Purdue, eliminating them from the tournament. Kontos pitched his seventh complete game of the season, striking out seven and walking none in an 8-4 victory.
The season came to an end, ironically to the team where the `real season' started, Michigan. The Wolverines put together 16 hits to defeat NU 8-3.
Northwestern says goodbye to a quintet of seniors and a pair of junior pitchers. Chris Davidson, Stanley Finch, McMahon, Siberio and Wycklendt all exhausted their eligibility, while draftees Kontos and Brauer take their game to the professional ranks. Kontos was a fifth-round selection of the New York Yankees and Brauer a sixth-round choice of the Philadelphia Phillies.
