Friday, March 25
Columbus, Ohio
5:35 p.m.
Northwestern
at
Ohio State
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
Northwestern Opens Big Ten Campaign at Ohio State
3/24/2016 11:41:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL AT CINCINNATI | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS | |
| Friday, Mar. 20 | Ohio State | 5:35 p.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio | Watch ($) | Live Stats | |
| Saturday, Mar. 21 | Ohio State | 2:05 p.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio | Watch ($) | Live Stats | |
| Sunday, Mar. 22 | Ohio State | 11 a.m. CT | Cincinnati, Ohio | BTN | Live Stats | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook | ||||||
COLUMBUS, Ohio. — Northwestern will conclude the final stretch of its spring break trip this weekend, March 25-27, when it opens up Big Ten Conference play with a three-game series at Ohio State.
Northwestern will be featured on national television on Sunday, March 27, when its 11 a.m. CT game against the Buckeyes is broadcasted on the Big Ten Network. BTN's Andy Masur will handle the play-by-play duties, while Danan Hughes will be on as an analyst.
The Wildcats and Buckeyes will begin the weekend on Friday with first pitch set for 5:35 p.m. CT, before playing a 2:05 p.m. CT contest on Saturday afternoon.
Ohio State enters the weekend with a 12-6-1 record overall and is currently riding a five-game winning streak.
ON THE BUMP
Reed Mason (2-1) will make his sixth start of the season on Friday night. The senior left-hander has posted a 3.28 ERA in his six appearances this season and has tallied the most innings pitched (24.2 IP) for the Wildcats.
Junior Matt Hopfner (0-1) has gotten he nod for Saturday's start from head coach Spencer Allen. The Edina, Minnesota, native made his first start of the season, and first since his freshman year, against Cincinnati (March 20) earlier in the week. He went 4.1 innings in that outing, only allowing one run on three hits to receive a no-decision.
Hopfner, the Wildcats' everyday right fielder, has come out of the bullpen to pitch on two occasions this season and even earned a save in Northwestern's 5-1 over Nevada on Feb. 19.
Dan Kubiuk (0-1) will start for Northwestern in Sunday's finale. The sophomore walk-on has appeared in seven games this season, three of which have been starts. Kubiuk, who is also a quarterback on Northwestern's football team, has compiled a 3.00 ERA.
Ohio State will throw LHP Tanner Tully (3-1, 2.73 ERA) in game one, followed by RHP Adam Niemeyer (1-1, 3.60 ERA) in game two and John Havird (1-1, 4.08 ERA) on Sunday for the finale.
OFFENSIVELY GOOD
Northwestern enters conference play with a team batting average of .279, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten. Four Wildcats have already surpassed the 20-hit mark, including Matt Hopfner (30), Zach Jones (27), Jack Dunn (27) and Joe Hoscheit (20).
HOP ON THE TRAIN
Matt Hopfner's is hitting .390 and boasts a team-best slugging percentage of .519 in 20 games this season, which places the junior in the top-10 in the Big Ten Conference for batting average. The Edina, Minnesota, native is tied for third in the league with 30 hits.
Nine of Hopfner's 30 knocks have been extra-base hits, which includes eight doubles. Hopfner has tallied 11 multi-hit games in the 2016 campaign.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
Northwestern's freshmen have been producing early and often in 2016.
Shortstop Jack Dunn is batting .320, which ranks fourth among Big Ten freshman. Dunn, who put together a nine-game hitting streak earlier in the season, is one of only three Northwestern players to start in all 21 games.
Willie Bourbon, who has started 20 games at second base and the DH spot, leads Northwestern with 13 RBIs. The #B1GCats second baseman had a breakout series at San Diego State (March 10-12), where he hit .600 in three games with a .900 slugging percentage and five RBIs.
Classmate Ben Dickey is hitting .250 with 8 RBIs in 19 games played. Dickey has a team-best three stolen bases.
CONNOR CAN
Connor Lind has been as steady as they come for Northwestern. The sophomore third baseman has reached base in 19 consecutive games and has totaled a .270 batting average and a .370 on-base percentage.
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