Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host Illinois at Rocky Miller Park
4/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 12, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern enters the weekend after splitting a four-game series at Indiana last weekend. They take on intrastate rival Illinois at Rocky Miller Park in Evanston. Game one of the four-game conference series is set for 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Illinois comes to Evanston after losing a midweek contest against Bradley (6-4) and splitting a doubleheader with Ohio State last weekend. The Buckeyes and Illini only played two of their originally scheduled four-game series because of inclement weather. Illinois is 11-13 overall, 3-3 in the Big Ten.
The Wildcats defeated the Illini three out of four in 2006 and are 10-6 in the last four years.
Catcher Lars Davis leads Illinois and the Big Ten with a .462 (48-for-104) batting average and is tops with 26 RBI and six home runs. Outfielder Kyle Hudson has started 21 of Illinois' games and is second on the team with a .423 average. He has an on-base percentage of .506 and has stolen 10 bases.
Illinois is hitting .333 as a team with 13 home runs and 161 RBI. They are averaging 7.5 runs per game.
On the mound for the Illini, reliever Omar Kadir has the lowest ERA at 3.60 in 15.0 innings pitched. He has appeared in eight games. Right-hander Scott Shaw is 3-2 with six starts and one complete game.
As a team, the Fighting Illini has a team ERA of 6.61.
For the Wildcats, third baseman Jake Owens leads the team with a .374 (37-for-99) batting average and 18 RBI. He enjoyed an 11-game hitting streak prior to game three at Indiana last weekend. He has 11 multi-hit games. Junior Antonio Mulé has three of NU's 13 home runs and is hitting .356 (32-for-90) on the year.
Senior lefty Dan Schwartz is coming off arguably the best start of his collegiate career last weekend. Schwartz pitched a complete-game shutout, winning 1-0. Classmate Ryan Myers used 156 pitches to win his game 5-4. Myers threw all nine-innings. He struck out a season-high 11 in the process.
