Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, April 15
Evanston, Ill.
3 p.m.
Northwestern
vs
Penn State
Northwestern Welcomes Penn State to Rocky and Berenice Miller Park
4/14/2016 9:52:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL VS PENN STATE | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | STATS | |
| Friday, April 15 | Penn State | 3 p.m. CT | Evanston, Ill. | BTN Plus | Live Stats | |
| Saturday, April 16 | Penn State | 2 p.m. CT | Evanston, Ill. | BTN Plus | Live Stats | |
| Sunday, April 17 | Penn State | 1 p.m. CT | Evanston, Ill. | BTN Plus | Live Stats | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook | ||||||
EVANSTON, ILL. — After earning a 5-1 win over Bradley on Wednesday afternoon, Northwestern is set to open up a three-game series against Penn State at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park on Friday, April 15.
First pitch on Friday is set for 3 p.m. CT, while Saturday's game will get underway at 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale will take place at 1 p.m.
Northwestern (9-24, 2-7 B1G) enters the Big Ten weekend series riding a two-game winning streak. Before the mid-week victory over Bradley, the Wildcats took an 11-3 win at Nebraska on April 10.
Penn State (19-14, 5-4 B1G) makes the trip to Chicago having won 10 of its last 12 games. The Nittany Lions went 1-2 against Michigan State last weekend (April 8-10), before picking up a non-conference win against Bucknell, 8-1, on Wednesday.
Jim Haley and Nick Riotto are the drivers of Penn State's offense this season. Haley leads the team in hits and RBIs with 46 and 21, respectively. Riotto, who is batting .336 on the campaign, is the reigning Big Ten Baseball Player of the Week. Last week (April 4-10), Riotto went 12-for-22 (.545) with a .583 on-base percentage, home run, two doubles, eight runs scored and six RBIs.
Northwestern will likely see LHP Taylor Lehman (1-6, 4.95 ERA) on Friday, RHP Sal Biasi (3-4, 4.08 ERA) on Saturday and RHP Justin HAgenman (4-1, 2.25 ERA) on Sunday for the finale.
ON THE BUMP
Reed Mason (2-3, 4.05 ERA) will again get the start on Friday. Mason leads the team in starts (8), innings pitched (40.0) and strikeouts (31). Mason has turned in up in conference games this season, especially on the road. In both of Mason's Big Ten road starts (at Ohio State – 3/25/16) (at Nebraska – 4/8/16), he has pitched at least 6.0 innings and has struck out a season-high six batters.
Dan Kubiuk (0-3, 5.46 ERA) will make his seventh start of the season on Saturday. The right-handed pitcher has racked up 31.1 innings in his first baseball season.
Sunday's starter is TBA.
OTHER NOTES TO KNOW...
*As of April 11*
OFFENSIVELY GOOD
The Wildcats leaned on the heart of their order for production in Lincoln last weekend. Matt Hopfner, Joe Hoscheit and Connor Lind combined to hit .550 with 22 hits, 12 RBIs, 10 runs scored and three home runs. Lind led the way with nine knocks, while Hoscheit recorded seven RBIs, including five off of a pair of home runs in Saturday's game.
BRING ON THE SOUTHPAWS
Northwestern has not backed away from the task of facing left-handed pitchers this season. Entering the week, the Wildcats have three players (with at least 30 at-bats against LHP) hitting over .300 against Southpaws. Matt Hopfner is batting .442 versus left-handers, while Joe Hoscheit is hitting .375 and Connor Lind has a .314 average.
HOME RUN HOT STREAK
In Northwestern's first 24 games this season, the team tallied four home runs. Since March 30, the Wildcats have played eight games and have launched 10 dingers, two of which have been grand slams (Jack Claeys, Chicago State – 3/30/16 and Jack Dunn, Michigan – 4/3/16).
Joe Hoscheit leads the team with five this season.
HOPPY IS (STILL) HITTING
Matt Hopfner continues to be the workhorse in Northwestern's potent line up. The junior boasts a team-best .385 average with 47 hits on the season, including 13 that have gone for extra bases. At the beginning of the week, Hopfner's hit total and batting average rank him fifth in the Big Ten Conference for both categories. He has 18 multi-hit games this season.
Hopfner tallied seven hits in the series at Nebraska, including a double and a home run.
BIG TIME BOURBON
Freshman Willie Bourbon has been a major source for run production this season. The second baseman leads the team with 20 RBIs and is batting .333 with runners in scoring position. He has stepped up in critical situation as well, having tallied seven of his 20 RBIs with two outs.
Bourbon has four multi-RBI games.
REED 'EM AND WEEP
Senior Reed Mason has been the rock of Northwestern's pitching staff this season. The senior leads the team in starts (8), innings pitched (40.0) and strikeouts (31). Mason has turned in up in conference games this season, especially on the road. In both of Mason's Big Ten road starts (at Ohio State – 3/25/16) (at Nebraska – 4/8/16), he has pitched at least 6.0 innings and has struck out a season-high six batters.
FRESH PEN
The bright spot of Northwestern's bullpen this season has featured fresh, young arms.
Sophomore Tommy Bordignon has been head coach Spencer Allen's first call to the pen on numerous occasions this season. The Glenview, Illinois, native has struck out 18 batters in 27.0 innings of work and is holding opposing hitters to a .181 batting average.
Since opening Big Ten play at Ohio State on March 25, junior transfer Josh Davis has appeared in six games and has tossed 7.0 innings, only allowing five hits and one run.
Freshman Mack Rosman came out of the bullpen four times since March 25 to pitch a 5.2 innings. The right-hander struck out five batters during that stretch and has not allowed a run or a hit. Rosman was Northwestern's winning pitcher of record in the team's 11-3 win over Nebraska on April 10 after working the top half of the fifth inning. It was the first win of his career.
Rosman's classmate Danny Katz possesses the best ERA on the team with a 2.33 mark in 10 appearances. The Winnetka, Ill., native's highlight performance came when entered the game from the pen against Chicago State (March 30) and pitched 5.0 innings to pick up the first victory of his career.
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