Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Travel to Michigan State for Weekend Series
4/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 2, 2009
NU Game Notes vs. Michigan State (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern hits the road for the first time in Big Ten play this weekend as it travels to Michigan State for a three-game series. Due to expected inclement weather, Friday's game has been postponed. The teams will play a doubleheader beginning at 10 a.m. CT Saturday and a single game at noon on Sunday. It is the first of two consecutive conference road trips for the Wildcats as they also head to Minnesota next weekend.
Gametracker will be available for all three games and can be accessed via NUsports.com.
NU (5-17, 1-1 Big Ten) hopes that playing familiar opponents will help it get back on track. Following a rough opening stretch to the season, the 'Cats opened their Big Ten campaign at home against Purdue last weekend, dropping a tight 4-3 decision on Friday before bouncing back for a convincing 13-4 win on Saturday (Sunday's contest was cancelled due to inclement weather).
Northwestern got a pair of stellar efforts from its starting pitchers against the Boilermakers. Eric Jokisch allowed just one earned run on Friday in hurling his third complete game of the season but he didn't get enough offensive support in being forced to take the loss. Fellow lefty Joe Muraski struck out a career-high eight batters in just six innings of work without walking anyone to pick up the win Saturday. He allowed just one run and didn't surrender a hit until the fifth inning.
At the plate, junior left fielder Jake Goebbert led the way by hitting .625 (5-8) with three doubles, four runs scored and four RBI en route to his fourth career Big Ten Player of the Week honor.
Scouting Michigan State
The Spartans (8-17, 0-3 Big Ten) are coming off a 20-3 blowout win over Central Michigan at Oldmobile Park in Lansing on Wednesday. Michigan State was swept at Illinois in its opening Big Ten series last weekend. Junior outfielder Eli Boike leads Michigan State with a .356 batting average, five home runs and seven stolen bases. Senior right-hander Nolan Moody paces all starting pitchers with a 3-3 record to go along with a 3.60 ERA. This series marks the first games played at the brand-new McLane Baseball Stadium.
Series History: Michigan State leads, 80-44-1.
Last Season: The Wildcats and the Spartans split a four-game series in Evanston April 4-6. Michigan State won the first two games 12-6 and 6-1 before NU took the last two contests 3-2 and 5-4 to earn the split.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday - LHP Eric Jokisch vs. RHP Nolan Moody
Saturday - LHP Joe Muraski vs. RHP AJ Achter
Sunday - RHP Zach Morton vs. LHP Kyle Corcoran
