Northwestern University Athletics
Postseason Hopes Ride on Series With Michigan State
5/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 20, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -
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The Northwestern baseball team ends the regular season with a four-game conference series in East Lansing, Mich. against Michigan State. The Spartans are currently third in the Big Ten with a 17-11 conference record, while Northwestern is seventh at 12-16.
The Wildcats are still eligible for the tournament, but a number of things must happen in order for NU to finish in the top six of the conference. A couple of scenarios could play out, as listed below.
* If Penn State and Northwestern tie at 16-16, the Nittany Lions go to the tournament after winning 3-of-4 from NU in the regular season.
* If Michigan goes 0-4 in the final weekend and Northwestern goes 4-0, then Michigan and Northwestern would be tied at 16-16. Northwestern would be 9-11 against the top seven teams and Michigan would be only 8-12, so NU would win that tie-breaker and be eligible for the tournament.
* If Northwestern and Purdue end the season with identical records, Purdue wins the tie-breaker with a 13-11 record against the top seven teams. Northwestern must end the regular season with a better record than Purdue to become tournament-bound. Purdue is hosting Indiana this weekend.
* If three teams tie at 16-16, then the first tie-breaker would be the best winning percentage in head-to-head games. Purdue is 3-1 vs. Michigan, 2-2 vs. NU (total of 5-3). Michigan did not play NU and is 1-3 against Purdue (total of 1-3). NU did not play Michigan and is 2-2 against Purdue (total of 2-2). Purdue would become the five seed and NU would win that tie-breaker as the No. 6 seed.
* Northwestern must sweep Michigan State and either Michigan or Purdue needs to be swept for the Wildcats to make the tournament.
With tournament hopes still hanging, the Wildcats enter the weekend after a 5-2 Tuesday defeat of Northern Illinois in Evanston. Sophomore first baseman Mark Ori found his hot hitting again, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Ori leads the team with a .375 overall batting average and is second in the Big Ten with a .404 league average. He is tied with right fielder Jason Krynski for the team lead with 14 doubles. Junior shortstop Jon Mikrut had three RBI on Tuesday, upping his team-leading total to 39, which is a personal career high. Senior catcher Dan Pohlman is hitting .342 overall and .381 in the Big Ten. He and Krynski have a team-leading seven home runs, five of which have come in Big Ten play. Pohlman is second on the team with 37 runs-batted-in. NU is hitting .296 as a team with 81 doubles, 18 triples and 30 home runs.
On the mound for NU are a pair of left-handers which rank Nos. 1 & 2 in the Big Ten strikeout race. Junior J.A. Happ leads the conference with 96 punch-outs, while sophomore Dan Brauer is second with 91. Happ is second in the Big Ten with a 2.96 ERA, trailing only Minnesota's Craig Molldrem (2.68). Brauer isn't far behind, coming in at No. 5 on the Big Ten ERA list at 3.06. Happ has pitched 85.0 innings and Brauer 82.1. As a team, NU is sixth in the conference with a 4.96 ERA in all games. Ohio State leads at 4.13.
Record Setters
* J.A. Happ has 96 strikeouts, the NU single season record is 109. Brad Neidermaier struck out 109 in 1995 and 105 in 1994. Happ's 96 punch-outs is the third highest single season total in NU history.
* Josh Lieberman set the Northwestern career mark for sacrifice bunts with 21 earlier this season. He overtook Carmen Bucci (20-1992-95) with a sac bunt in game four vs. Iowa (5/2/04).
* Jon Mikrut has five saves this season, giving him 16 for his career. He is one shy of Greg Ziesemer's (1993-96) career record of 17.
* Jason Krynski has five sacrifice flies this season. That number ties him for fourth on the single-season sacrifice fly list. J.P. Williamson (2000) holds the record with eight.
* Mark Ori has a .375 batting average. If he can keep it up, it will be the highest batting average since Joe Hietpas hit .376 in 2000.
* Mark Ori has 66 hits, seven shy of eighth place on the single season hits list. Bob Dainton (2000) is eighth with 73.
* NU has 1,679 at-bats as a team. They need just 104 more to tie the 1985 team for fifth on the team at-bats list with 1,786.
* NU has 497 hits as a team. They need just 23 to tie the 1988 and 1995 teams for fifth place on the single season hits list with 520. NU averages 9.7 hits per game.
* Jason Krynski and Jon Mikrut are closing in on the top-10 list for at-bats in a season. Krynski has 195, Mikrut 196. Tom Hildebrand (1984) is seventh with 207.
* Jason Krynski is one home runs shy of 10th place on the career home runs list. He has 17 in his career, including seven this season. Sloan Smith (1991-93) is 10th with 18.
