Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Take on Hawkeyes in Four-Game Set
4/29/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 29, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -
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After playing nine straight home games, NU hits the road for a four-game conference set at the University of Iowa this weekend. Game one is schedule to begin at 6 p.m. (CDT) Friday, April 30. Northwestern is coming off a home weekend in which the 'Cats lost 3-of-4 to Minnesota, and have now lost six of its last eight league games. NU defeated UW-Milwaukee on Tuesday, 15-4.
Iowa enters the weekend having lost a midweek game to Northern Iowa (9-8) and splitting with Penn State over the weekend. Penn State took 3-of-4 from Northwestern two weeks ago in State College. Iowa is 12-26 overall, 5-11 in the Big Ten.
Northwestern won three of the four games in 2003 vs. Iowa, but the Hawkeyes hold the edge in the all-time series, 115-84. NU has not lost a series to Iowa since the 2000 season.
Jack Dahm took over head coaching duties at Iowa this season, after coaching Creighton University for the last 11 years. Dahm has a career coaching record of 295-302-2, and is currently 12-26 in his first season at the Hawkeye helm.
Iowa is led by catcher Kris Welker, who is hitting .291 while starting 33 of Iowa's 38 games. Outfielder Nate Yoho's 28 RBI and 11 doubles are tops on the team, and he's hitting .284 (40-for-141). Jess Brownwell has three home runs, three triples and been walked 12 times in 33 starts.
Nathan Johnson, who beat NU 4-0 in 2003, leads the team with a 3.68 ERA in 63.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 54 and walked only 15 in 10 starts.
On the NU side of the diamond, sophomore Mark Ori leads the team with a .359 batting average and is currently on a nine game hitting streak. Ori's .431 (25-for-58) conference batting average is second in the Big Ten, and his six doubles ranks third in Big Ten games. Catcher Dan Pohlman leads the conference (league games only) in home runs (5) and RBI (18), and ranks sixth with a .389 batting average. Junior J.A. Happ is atop the Big Ten in both overall (81) and conference (37) strikeouts. Sophomore Dan Brauer is second in overall Ks, with 72. Each left-hander has started 10 games.
