Hoscheit, Gardner savoring success at the next level

Northwestern's baseball team heads into the final weekend of the regular season in control of its own destiny in the Big Ten Conference.

Going into their 3-game home series with Rutgers (May 18-20), the Wildcats (21-28, 10-11) find themselves locked in a tie for seventh place with Purdue (10-11) - one game ahead of ninth-place Michigan State (9-12).

The top eight finishers advance to the Big Ten Conference Baseball Tournament scheduled for May 24-28 in Bloomington, Ind.

One of the main reasons why the Wildcats hope to reach the conference tourney for the first time since 2010 has been the stellar play of senior outfielder Joe Hoscheit of St. Charles.

Hoscheit, who helped propel St. Charles East to a third-place Class 4A state baseball finish in 2013, currently leads the Big Ten in several offensive categories, including batting average (. 458 in conference play), hits (38), RBI (28), doubles (10) and total bases (64) - and ranks third in runs scored (21).

Incidentally, Hoscheit and Batavia graduate Micah Coffey (. 403) of Minnesota own the top two batting averages in Big Ten play this season.

"I was struggling a bit early on but things started clicking when we began our conference season," said Hoscheit, who is batting .343 on the season with a team-high 5 home runs and 41 RBI.

Last month, the 6-foot, 215-pounder earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors (April 17) after batting .588 with 10 hits, 2 home runs, 9 RBI and 5 runs scored. Hoscheit is Northwestern's first Player of the Week honoree since Jake Straub in 2013.

Hoscheit highlighted the week by belting a grand slam during the Wildcats' 11-4 victory over Illinois.

The very next week (April 24), Hoscheit duplicated the feat as Big Ten Player of the Week after hitting .400 with 6 hits, 7 RBI and 3 runs scored as the Wildcats went 3-1.

"I definitely didn't expect it," said Hoscheit.

Last September, Hoscheit underwent surgery for a stress fracture in his left leg.

"I had a rod inserted through my knee and running down to my ankle," he said. "I was out the entire fall and came back in January. I feel great."

Hoscheit, who has collected 208 career hits, including 20 home runs and 125 RBI, hopes to lead the Wildcats to their first conference tournament title - and NCAA Tournament berth.

"This is the best ball we've been playing since I've been here," he said. "It's great for guys like me and Matt Hopfner who have been 4-year starters here."

Hoscheit, an economics major who will graduate on June 16, hopes to hear his name called during next month's 2017 MLB Draft (June 12-14).

"It has always been a dream of mine to play Major League baseball," he said.

•Another Tri-Cities product, Batavia's Cole Gardner, signed a professional football contract late last month with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.

The 6-5, 300-pounder begins off-season training sessions (OTAs) this week in Tampa.

"I spent much of last week trying to learn the playbook," said Gardner, who graduated from Eastern Michigan last year and is just four classes shy of earning a master's degree.

"I'm following my dream to pursue a career in the NFL," he said. "I think it is everyone's goal growing up as a kid. Playing college football brought me one step closer to fulfilling the dream."

Gardner, who led Batavia to a 12-1 record as a senior tight end-defensive end in 2011, played 4 years at Eastern Michigan where he excelled the past two seasons as an offensive lineman.

After starting his collegiate career as a tight end and earning Academic All-MAC Team honors in 2014, Gardner made the successful switch to left tackle as a redshirt junior the following season.

"It was an adjustment but not as much as I had thought," said Gardner, who received EMU's Harold E. Sponberg Lineman Scholar-Athlete Award in 2015. "It was mainly trying to perfect my technique."

This past season, Gardner started 13 games at left tackle for the Eagles protecting the blind side for quarterback Brogan Roback.

Eastern Michigan's offensive line ranked 12th in the country for least sacks allowed.

Gardner, an All-MAC Second Team selection, concluded his collegiate career in fashion as the Eagles landed a berth in the 2016 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl.

Despite suffering a 24-20 postseason loss to Old Dominion, Eastern Michigan finished with 7 wins for the first time since 1989.

It was a huge improvement for the Eagles, who won just 5 games during Gardner's first three seasons.

"It was an awesome experience, especially to go out the way we did playing in a bowl game," said Gardner. "I'll cherish the friendships made with the guys I played with."

Gardner remains as Batavia's career sack leader with 20.

"Those were some of the best times of my life," he said.

Craig Brueske can be reached at csb4k@hotmail.com.