Friday, February 24
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
3 p.m.
Northwestern
at
Middle Tennessee
Northwestern Ready for Mule Mix Classic
2/23/2017 2:49:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN AT MULE MIX CLASSIC | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | STREAM | RADIO | |
| Friday, Feb. 24 | Middle Tennessee | 3:00 p.m. CT | Murfreesboro, Tenn. | C-USA Network |
WNUR | |
| Saturday, Feb. 25 | Belmont | Noon CT | Nashville, Tenn. | - | WNUR | |
| Sunday, Feb. 26 | Lipscomb | 1:00 p.m. CT | Nashville, Tenn. | - | WNUR | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball and @NU_SportsLive) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern |
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EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern baseball will continue its campaign with a weekend trip to Nashville, Tennessee, for the 2017 Mule Mix Classic to take on Middle Tennessee (Feb. 24), Belmont (Feb. 25) and Lipscomb (Feb. 26).
Northwestern's Mule Mix opener at Middle Tennessee will take place on Friday, Feb. 24 at 3 p.m. CT, while the games at Belmont on Saturday, Feb. 25 and at Lipscomb on Sunday, Feb. 26 will be played at Noon CT and 1 p.m. CT, respectively.
Senior Joe Schindler (0-1, 3.38 ERA) will start on the bump in the weekend opener and freshman Hank Christie (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make the second start of his career on Saturday. Junior Tommy Bordignon has been tabbed by head coach Spencer Allen take the mound on Sunday.
The Wildcats opened the season with a trip to Arizona State last weekend and battled the Sun Devils to final frames in all three contests. Northwestern had the bases loaded with one out in the ninth inning, trailing ASU 3-1, in the season opener, but were unable to plate another run. In game two of the series, the 'Cats led for the entirety of the contest until ASU scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to walk-off with a 4-3 victory. Northwestern and Arizona State were deadlocked at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning in the series finale until the Sun Devils used a pair of two-run doubles to go on to take a 6-2 victory.
Pitching and defense were the highlights of opening weekend for the Wildcats. Senior Joe Schindler got the nod for the opening day start for the second straight year and went 5.1 innings and picked up four strikeouts. Freshman Hank Chrisitie was stellar in his collegiate debut, picking up three strikeouts and only allowing a pair of hits in 3.2 innings. Junior Richard Fordon made two appearances out of the pen and only allowed one hit, while striking out three batters in 2.1 innings.
The #B1GCats defense played error-free baseball against the Sun Devils. Both Northwestern errors that were committed in the series were made by pitchers.
Northwestern struggled to get the bats going in its series at Arizona State. Only seven different players registered hits with senior Joe Hoscheit leading the way with three hits on the weekend. Hoscheit was the only Wildcat to tally an extra-base hit when he collected a double in the series opener. Connor Lind led the Wildcats with a pair of RBIs.
Middle Tennessee (1-3) enters the weekend coming off a 3-2 midweek loss to Lipscomb on Wednesday. The Blue Raiders opened the season with a 1-2 mark at Georgia Southern. Brad Jarreau leads team with a .455 batting average on five hits and two RBIs. Kaleb King has a team-high seven hits.
LHP Jake Wyrick (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second start of the season on Friday. Last time out, Wyrick went 3.0 innings and only allowed one hit, while striking out six.
Belmont (1-3) picked up its first win of the season on Wednesday with an 11-3 win over Western Kentucky. The Bruins were swept by Kent State last weekend. As a team, Belmont is hitting .206 on the season. Matt Cogen paces the club with six hits in 11 at-bats, including a home run.
RHP Dylan King is slated to make his second start of the season when the Wildcats visit on Saturday. King went six innings last weekend against Kent State and surrendered seven hits, but struck out eight batters.
Lipscomb (3-1) notched its third win of the season on Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over Middle Tennessee. The Bison took a series, 2-1, from Oakland last weekend. Cade Sorrells leads the club offensively with a .462 average at the dish on a team-best six hits.
The Wildcats are slated to face Adam Stewart on Sunday. Stewart has made one start this season and boasts a 33.75 ERA after allowing six runs, five earned, in 1.1 innings against Oakland.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
All 10 of Northwestern's freshmen saw action over opening weekend and five of the 10 newcomers registered starts, including pitchers Hank Christie and Matt Gannon. Catcher Nick Paciorek made a pair of starts behind the dish and was one of two Wildcats to register multiple hits on the weekend.
WNUR RELEASE
Prior to the start of the 2017 season, head coach Spencer Allen announced that every game of the 2017 season is scheduled to be broadcast on either TV, radio or online. The announcement came in large part to an agreement between the university's athletic department and WNUR Sports to carry all of the Wildcats' road games. Will Greer will travel with the Wildcats to Nashville to broadcast the 2017 Mule Mix Classic.
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