Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Make Big Ten Network Debut, Host Ohio State
4/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 24, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern, which has won nine of its last 12 games, tries to continue its climb up the Big Ten standings this weekend as it hosts Ohio State at Rocky Miller Park. The series gets underway at 3 p.m. Friday with Saturday's doubleheader beginning at noon being televised live by Big Ten Network. Sunday's finale is set for 1 p.m.
Please note that Saturday's start time is different than what had been previously published. The change has been made to accomodate the television broadcats. Bryan Dolgin and Scott Pose are on the call.
Since starting the Big Ten season 1-5, the Wildcats have won seven of their last 10 conference games.NU enters the four-game series just a half-game behind the Buckeyes for fourth place. The 'Cats are currently tied with Penn State for fifth place at the midway point of the conference season, with the top six teams qualifying for the Big Ten tournament.
Series History: Ohio State leads 78-41.
Last Season: The teams did not meet in Big Ten play last season, but the Buckeyes did defeat Northwestern 11-6 March 22 in Bradenton, Fla.
Last Time Out
Northwestern is coming off a series win at Iowa last weekend, taking three of four contests. After the start of the series was pushed back a day due to rain, the Wildcats took Saturday's opener by a commanding 13-5 margin. Trailing 3-2 after the first inning of play, NU scored 10 straight runs to pull away. Jake Goebbert went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. After allowing three runs in the first, Joe Muraski followed with five straight scoreless innings to earn the win. Iowa bounced back to take the nightcap of Saturday's twinbill 8-3.
Northwestern was able to get its bats going again in Sunday's first contest, routing the Hawkeyes 13-6. Chris Lashmet did the majority of the damage, collecting a two-run single and a long three-run homer en route to driving in a career-high five runs. Eric Jokisch worked the first five innings on the hill to improve to 4-2. NU got some clutch offense late in clinching the series win with a 9-6 victory in Sunday's second contest. Goebbert's two-run single in the top of the eighth inning broke a 6-6 tie. Nate Roberts collected a career-high four hits as the 'Cats pounded out 17 hits as a team in the contest.
Goebbert Named Co-Big Ten Player of the Week
Jake Goebbert did a number on Iowa pitching last weekend, batting .615 (8-13) with four doubles, a home run and six RBI. He also posted a .737 on-base percentage and a 1.154 slugging percentage in the four-game series. He went 3-for-4, including two doubles and a home run, with three RBI and four runs scored as NU won the series opener 13-5. After being pitched to carefully in each of the next two games, he collected three hits in the finale to help the Wildcats win the series. Goebbert came to the plate with the score tied 6-6 in the top of the eighth and ripped a two-run single to account for the game-winning hit.
Looking Back at the Iowa Series
• Northwestern's series win at Iowa last weekend was the team first Big Ten series road win in nearly two years. Ironically, the Wildcats' most recent road series win also came at Iowa April 28-30, 2006.
• One oddity that came out of the four-game series with the Hawkeyes was the fact that both teams finished the set with the same amount of hits (46) and at-bats (131). Each team posted batting averages of .351 in the series.
• Sunday's doubleheader sweep raised NU's Big Ten record to 8-8. The Wildcats didn't earn their eighth conference win until the next-to-last game of the 2007 season when they finished 9-23 in league play.
Don't Call it a Comeback
Despite having the opposition score first in each of their last three games, the Wildcats have come back to win. Prior to those three contests, Northwestern had been 1-14 this season when its foe tallied first.
Scouting Ohio State
• The Buckeyes (20-16, 8-7) split a doubleheader Wednesday with Toledo in Columbus. Ohio State scored five runs over the final two innings of play to take the opener 8-7. Cory Kovanda brought home the winning run with a sac fly in the bottom of seventh. OSU dropped the nightcap 7-3.
• J.B. Shuck leads Ohio State with a .383 batting average, while Justin Miller is hitting .381 with team bests of 10 doubles and 32 RBI. Shuck also paces all starters on the mound with a 2.86 ERA and a .193 opponents batting average.
• The Buckeyes dropped three of four games in their series with second-place Purdue in Columbus last weekend. Ohio State has lost six of its last eight games overall. Twelve of OSU's 15 Big Ten games so far have been played at home.
Up Next...
Northwestern steps outside of Big Ten play next Wednesday, April 30 as it hosts UW-Milwaukee at Rocky Miller Park. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
