Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Travel to Sunshine State
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 24, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern baseball team takes the first of two trips to Bradenton, Fla., this weekend, playing four games in the IMG Academy Tournament. Originally slated to play at a tourney in Jacksonville, conflicting schedules moved the `Cats to Bradenton. NU is slated to take on Mount St. Mary's (Md.) and Northeastern on Saturday and Seton Hall and Maine on Sunday.
Mount St. Mary's and Northeastern open their 2005 seasons in Bradenton while Seton Hall enters the tourney with a 0-3 record. The Pirates were swept in a three-game series at North Carolina.
The Wildcats bring a 1-3 record to familiar territory, having played 14 games the last two years at the IMG Academy baseball fields. In those 14 games, NU has an 8-6 record.
Northwestern will meet Mount St. Mary's, Seton Hall and Maine for the first time in school history. The two NU (Wildcats and Huskies) have split a pair of career games, the most recent coming in 2003. Northeastern defeated the Wildcats 2-1 in Bradenton, Fla.
Coming off Big Ten Player of the Week honors for his efforts last weekend, catcher Pat McMahon (Mundelein, Ill./Carmel) leads the team with a .429 batting average in three starts. The junior gunned down three potential base-stealers in NU's 4-1 loss to Kansas State. Outfielder Antonio Mulé (Lodi, N.J./Lodi) has started every game and is hitting .308 with one RBI.
Freshman Max Mann (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) leads the team in RBI, plating four in his first four collegiate games. Classmate Jake Owens (Stevens Point, Wis./Pacelli) has a .267 average with a double and RBI. The two freshmen have started every game so far this season, with Owens at second base and Mann in right field.
Sophomore George Kontos (Lincolnwood, Ill./Niles West) pitched seven and two-third innings in his 2005 debut, giving up just five hits and two runs. Senior Evan Blesoff (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) has made two starts and is 1-1 on the season.
Game one of Saturday's doubleheader vs. Mount St. Mary's is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (EST).
