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By Jake O.
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Sunday, May 18, 2008 |
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Jake Owens is the starting third baseman for Northwestern University. He was named to the pre-season all-conference squad in the Big 10. Jake hails from Wisconsin. A Good Four Years The last time you heard from me, I was referring to our end of the season as a daunting task. Daunting may have been an understatement. We headed out last Wednesday for Ann Arbor, Michigan to face off with the then-17th ranked Michigan Wolverines. Although they had wrapped up the regular season conference crown a week earlier, they still had reasons to win. First of all, they were chasing the conference wins mark of 25 games; and secondly, they were trying to boost their resume for hosting a national regional.
Considering all of that, our team may have had a little more to play for: that being our season. We came into the weekend in sixth place (which is the final conference tourney spot). Because of tie-breakers and some past rain outs, we knew that we would have to win at least two games to give ourselves a chance to hold onto that spot. Let me clarify, we would have to take two games in Ann Arbor where the Wolverines had only lost one game all season. Daunting? Yes. But that makes it all the more exciting.
The first two games started off better than they finished. We were able to jump out to a 4-0 and 1-0 lead in games one and two, respectively. Our early leads were both short-lived as Michigan’s bats woke up in a hurry. Game three was different, however. With Eric Jokisch, our freshman ace, on the mound, we knew we had a chance. Sparked by a solo missile over the left-field wall by Tony Vercelli, Jokisch was able to hold down Michigan in a complete game 2-0 victory. It was the first time Michigan had been shut out all year, and the first time in their home ballpark in 64 games. Nothing surprising for the freshman phenom who set the Northwestern freshman wins mark at eight.
All you can ask for in sports is to have a chance. Whether it is at the end of an inning, a game, or a season, all you want is a chance to make a difference. We gave ourselves that chance. If we were able to pull out a win in the series finale, we had a shot at continuing our season. It didn’t work out that way. Michigan came out firing on all cylinders en route to an 11-2 season ending loss for us. If you get beat, you want to get beat by the best, and there is no doubt in my mind that we got beat by a very deserving Big Ten champion.
For me, this marks the end of a great four years. College baseball, and more specifically Northwestern, has given me opportunities that I always dreamed about. By playing a game based upon failure, I was spoiled with more joys than any person can hope for. I was able to step on the field and compete head to head with the men we will be watching on TV in three years. Who knows? Maybe college baseball gave me the chance to get a base hit off the next Nolan Ryan.
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