Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Open 2008 Home Season Against Michigan State
4/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 3, 2008
NU Game Notes vs. Michigan State
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern opens up its 2008 home season this weekend as it takes on Michigan State in a four-game series at Rocky Miller Park. The series gets underway at 3 p.m. Friday. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday followed by Sunday's finale which also starts at 1 p.m.
Please note that Sunday's start time is different than what may have been previously published.
The first three games of the series can be heard on WNUR, 89.3 FM in Evanston and online at wnur.org. Gametracker will be available for all four contests, while there will also be live streaming video at NUsports.com.
The Wildcats (5-12, 1-3) settled for one win in their opening Big Ten series at Purdue last weekend. Joe Muraski allowed only one earned run in a complete-game effort Friday evening, but it wasn't enough as NU fell 3-0.
Northwestern bounced back in a big way in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, winning 11-3. The top three batters in NU's order - Aaron Newman, Jake Owens and Jake Goebbert - went a combined 11-for-11 with nine RBI and nine runs scored in the contest. Goebbert tied career highs with four hits and six RBI. Eric Jokisch tossed a complete game to earn the win on the mound, striking out five along the way.
The 'Cats led 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth of the nightcap, but the Boilermakers scored once in the fifth and eight times in the sixth to pull away for a 10-2 victory. Owens had two hits and two runs batted in.
The teams battled back and forth in Sunday's finale before the Boilermakers eventually held on for an 8-6 win. Goebbert, Newman and Tommy Finn led Northwestern with three hits apiece. The Wildcats trailed 5-0 early before rallying back to get the tying run to the plate in the eighth and ninth innings but were unable to knot the score.
Series History: Michigan State leads, 78-42-1.
Last Season: The Spartans won all four games of last year's series in East Lansing May 11-13.
Double Your Pleasure
First baseman Jake Goebbert proved to have a knack for hitting doubles during his freshman season a year ago. A native of Hampshire, Ill., Goebbert finished first on the team with 14 doubles and has picked up right where he left off. His 10 doubles so far this season rank second in the Big Ten, while his average of 0.59 per game ranks fifth in the nation. Goebbert went 4-for-5 with a career-high six RBI against Kansas March 23. It was the most RBI by a Wildcat player in a game since Pat McMahon drove in six in a 19-18 win over Illinois April 14, 2006. Goebbert equaled the four-hit, six-RBI performance in an 11-3 win over Purdue March 29. He leads the Big Ten with a .758 slugging percentage, is second with four home runs and third with 50 total bases.
Emerging Ace
Northwestern left-handed starter Eric Jokisch has stepped right into the Wildcats' starting rotation his freshman season and has excelled. NU is 4-1 in Jokisch's starts, with the lone blemish coming in a 2-1 loss to Northern Iowa March 21 during which he tossed a seven-inning two-hitter. He has already hurled three complete games of his young career, doing one of the nine-inning variety in a 6-3 victory over UIC March 14 and in an 11-3 seven-inning win at Purdue March 29. Jokisch leads all Northwestern starters with a 3.38 ERA.
Scouting Michigan State
•A three-run seventh inning lifted the Spartans (9-12, 1-3) past Eastern Michigan Wednesday afternoon. Dennis Jones and Steve Gerstenberger led MSU with two hits apiece.
•MSU avoided a sweep at the hands of Illinois last weekend by winning Sunday's finale 3-2. Gerstenberger, a senior third baseman, hit an impressive .538 (7-13) in the four-game series.
• Kyle Day paces MSU with a .329 batting average and 18 RBI. Kurt Wunderlich sports a team-best 1.80 ERA, while Chris Cullen is 3-0 with a 2.67 ERA on the hill.
Up Next...
Northwestern will take just one day off before it returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Chicago State at 3 p.m.
