Northwestern Opens Series at Illinois on BTN

NORTHWESTERN AT ILLINOIS
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	STREAM	RADIO	STATS
Friday, April 14	Illinois	7 p.m. CT	Champaign, Ill.	BTN	WNUR	Stats
Saturday, April 15	Illinois	3 p.m. CT	Champaign, Ill.	Watch	WNUR	Stats
Sunday, April 16	Illinois	1 p.m. CT	Champaign, Ill.	Watch	WNUR	Stats
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EVANSTON, Ill. — Northwestern takes its four-game win streak down to Champaign this weekend (April 14-16) for a series against Illinois. The Wildcats' set with their down-state rival begins on Friday, April 14, at 7 p.m. CT and the action will be broadcasted nationally on BTN.

Northwestern (12-20, 2-4 B1G) is looking to extend its winning streak to five games on Friday night, it would be the first time since the 2007 campaign that the #B1GCats have posted five consecutive victories. The Wildcats are also looking for their third consecutive series win, having took sets from Air Force (April 1-2) and Iowa (April 7-9) in back-to-back weekends.

Senior Cooper Wetherbee (1-1, 2.19 ERA) will make a spot start for Northwestern on Friday night before freshmen Hank Christie (1-4, 6.38 ERA) and Matt Gannon (0-2, 4.74 ERA) take the mound to start the series' final games.

Wetherbee has been as steady it comes for Northwestern this season. The senior left-hander has tossed 24.2 innings and boasts a 16:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The Piedmont, California, native has appeared in 11 games this season with a pair of starts. In his last start (vs. Chicago State; 03/29/17), he went a career-long 7.0 innings pitched, only issuing two walks in the 26 batters he faced.

Illinois (12-18, 1-5 B1G) began Big Ten play by getting swept at home against Michigan State, before heading to Michigan last weekend where it took one game from then-No. 18 Michigan. At the plate, Illinois is led by Jack Yalowitz and Pat McInerney. Yalowitz boasts a .360 mark at the dish with 40 hits, while McInerney is batting .330 with 38 hits and 27 runs driven in.

The Fighting Illini have slated Ty Weber (2-3, 4.34 ERA) to start Friday night's game and Cyrillo Watson (1-2, 5.61 ERA) for Saturday's contest. Illinois has not yet named a Sunday starter.

This weekend will be the first time Northwestern and Illinois have met since the 2015 season, where the Fighting Illini took three games from the Wildcats in Champaign. Head coach Spencer Allen was a member of Illinois' staff that season and helped the team to a program record 50-win season and the first NCAA Regional in program history. It was Allen's lone season in Champaign.

Northwestern Opens Series at Illinois on BTN

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Players Mentioned

Hank Christie

Matt Gannon

Cooper Wetherbee

Northwestern University Athletics