Northwestern Junior Hits Four Homers in Absurd Day vs. Penn State
The Wildcats earned their first Big Ten win of the season on Saturday against Penn State, and it largely was thanks to the bat of Trent Liolios.
The junior infielder saw some action in his 2023 rookie season, then became a starter for the 'Cats in 2024. In the first month of his 2025 campaign, Liolios appears to have taken a massive leap. During Saturday's doubleheader against the Nittany Lions, Liolios put up one of the most ridiculous statlines the program has ever seen.
Seven hits in nine at-bats. Four home runs. Six RBIs. Five runs. All four home runs came against different pitchers.
Liolios' monster performance in the series finale led Northwestern to a 13-5 win over the Nittany Lions, who are 14-4 on the season. In the second half of the doubleheader, Liolios was 5-for-5 with three solo home runs.
He is the first Wildcat with a three-homer game since Anthony Calarco against Illinois in March 2021. Liolios is also the first Big Ten player to hit three home runs in a conference game since 2023.
Despite Liolios' dominant afternoon showing, the Wildcats dropped the series' first two games to Penn State. The Nittany Lions won the opener, 11-2, then pulled away in the fifth inning of Game 2 to win, 10-7. Northwestern is now 8-10 (1-2 Big Ten) on the season and will host Illinois in the upcoming weekend.
Liolios is in the midst of a breakout 2025 season, leading Northwestern in batting average (.382), OPS (1.343), runs (14), hits (21) and home runs (8). His .209 batting average in 2024 ranked seventh on the team.
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Gavin Dorsey is the Lead Writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI and covers a handful of other teams in the On SI network. Before joining On SI in February 2025, he wrote for the Star Tribune and Inside NU while broadcasting college sports for both radio and television. Dorsey is a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also studied psychology. In his free time, he enjoys running and being outdoors. Dorsey is currently a freelance writer for the Associated Press, covering Chicago area sports teams.