Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Head to Michigan Seeking Big Ten Tournament Berth
5/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 14, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern closes out its 2008 regular season this week as it travels to Big Ten champion Michigan. The Wolverines clinched the regular season title last weekend, while the Wildcats are trying to maintain a spot in next week's conference tournament. Thursday's opening game is set for 5:30 p.m. Central time and is being televised live by Big Ten Network.
Friday's doubleheader gets underway at 3 p.m., while Saturday's regular season finale is slated for a noon start.
NU enters the final four games of the season in sixth place in the Big Ten, mere percentage points ahead of Michigan State. Just two and a half games separate third place from seventh place in the conference standings, setting up a wild race to the finish.
Michigan is the second ranked team the Wildcats are facing this season. Northwestern went 1-1 against then-No. 21 Oklahoma State (currently No. 10). NU lost their first game to the Cowboys 13-3 before coming back the next day to collect a season-high 20 hits in a 14-12 win in 10 innings.
Series History: Michigan leads, 102-24.
Last Season: The Wolverines swept a four-game series in Evanston March 30-April 1.
Last Time Out
The Wildcats were forced to settled for a four-game split of their series with Indiana last weekend. NU won Friday's opener 8-5 behind Eric Jokisch setting a school freshman record with his seventh win of the season. Nate Roberts and Tommy Finn paced the team offensively with three hits apiece. Sophomore David Jensen pitched extremely well in the opening game of Saturday's doubleheader, but Indiana got a run in the top of the seventh inning to earn a 2-1 victory. Northwestern bounced back in the nightcap to win 10-8. Despite squandering a 7-2 lead, the 'Cats got the win as Chris Lashmet hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to put NU in front. The Hoosiers won a wild series finale Sunday, 14-12 in 10 innings. The Wildcats trailed 11-8 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, but Max Mann hit a run-scoring double and Tony Vercelli hit a game-tying, two-run homer to force extra innings. However, Indiana pushed across three runs in the top of the 10th and Northwestern managed just one in the bottom half. Mann went 4-for-4 with two doubles and a homer in his final collegiate home game.
Scouting Michigan
•The Wolverines (39-11, 23-4) defeated Notre Dame 15-12 Tuesday behind two home runs by Nate Recknagel. Michigan wrapped up the Big Ten regular season title and the right to host the Big Ten tournament by posting three wins over Minnesota last weekend.
•Recknagel's 21 home runs this season are a Michigan record. He also paces the team with a .393 batting average. The Wolverines' 65 home runs as a team are 31 more than any other Big Ten squad.
• On the mound, Chris Fetter is 9-1 with a 2.41 ERA, while Zach Putnam is 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA. Michigan's team ERA of 4.41 is tops in the league.
Up Next...
Should Northwestern qualify for the Big Ten tournament, it would make another trip right back to Ann Arbor. The tournament is slated to get underway Wednesday.
