Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Travels to UNLV for Four-Game Series
3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 11, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern makes its way Sin City for a four-game series against UNLV beginning at 9 p.m. Central time Thursday. The Wildcats and Rebels play a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. Friday with the series finale slated for 3 p.m. Saturday.
Live stats and streaming video will be available at unlvrebels.com.
NU (3-7) posted a 1-2 record at the Dairy Queen Classic at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Wildcats rallied from a five-run deficit with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Oklahoma State before falling 7-5. The Wildcats bounced back the next day behind a stellar pitching performance from sophomore right-hander Francis Brooke to down Loyola Marymount 3-0. Brooke shut the Lions down over the first eight frames before Paul Snieder nailed down the save. Northwestern dropped the weekend finale to host Minnesota 8-4 in a nonconference matchup.
Brooke has been stellar so far this season, sporting a 2-0 record with a minuscule 0.44 ERA. In 20 2/3 inning pitched, he has struck out 13 while allowing only two walks. Opposing batters are hitting just .153 off the Washington D.C. native. For his efforts in the victory over Loyola Marymount last weekend, Brooke was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week.
Snieder has paced the Wildcats at the plate through the first three weekends of play. The sophomore leads the squad with a .382 batting average and four doubles. He has also gotten the job done on the mound as he is yet to allow a run in three relief appearances.
UNLV (10-4) won three out of four games from visiting Columbia last weekend. The Rebels sport a team batting average of .334 and are averaging 10.7 runs per game. UNLV has five regular players who are batting at least .345. RJ Arnold leads the way with a .431 average, including a .745 slugging percentage, four home runs and 15 RBI. Tanner Peters, who is slated to get the nod on the hill Thursday, paces all Rebel starting pitchers with a 1-0 record and a 5.95 ERA in three starts.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday - RHP Tanner Peters (UNLV) vs. LHP Joe Muraski (NU)
Friday 1 - LHP Billy Wardell (UNLV) vs. RHP Francis Brooke (NU)
Friday 2 - RHP Stephen Singer (UNLV) vs. LHP Eric Jokisch (NU)
Saturday - UNLV starter TBA vs. Zach Morton (NU)
