SCHEDULE UPDATE: Northwestern Clashes with Michigan

4/5/2018 11:12:00 AM | Baseball

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Due to inclement weather in the forecast, Northwestern and Michigan are moving Friday's game to a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is set for 11:30 a.m. CT on Saturday with game two following immediately after.

MICHIGAN NOTES | NORTHWESTERN NOTES

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wildcats return home to Miller Park for the weekend to take on conference-foe Michigan in a three-game series. Friday's game begins at 3 p.m. CT, Saturday's first pitch is at 2 p.m. CT and the Sunday finale is set for 1 p.m. CT. All three games will be available via BTN Plus on BTN2Go and on WNUR Sports Radio.

CELEBRATION OF THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF THE SANDLOT
Northwestern baseball will celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Sandlot during Saturday's game. Clips and elements from the classic baseball movie will be incorporated throughout the day, including a t-shirt giveaway for early-arriving fans/students, s'mores hot chocolate at the concessions (free for students) and many more prizes.

Northwestern enters the series with an 8-14 overall record, including 1-5 mark in conference play after going 1-2 at Maryland last weekend. Northwestern has played three extra-inning games against league opponents and all Big Ten five losses are by a combined six runs.

THE OPPONENT
Michigan (16-11, 3-0 B1G) comes into the series having won 12 straight games, including winning its first three conference matchups. The Wolverines have found success at home this season with an 11-1 mark at their friendly confines compared to a 3-7 record in true road games.

Michigan will throw LHP Tommy Henry (4-0, 2.86 ERA) in the opener, before turning the ball over to LHP Ben Dragani (4-0, 1.38 ERA) on Saturday and RHP Karl Kauffmann (4-2, 3.06 ERA) in the finale. Dragani's 1.38 ERA and his opposing batting average of .169 are both the best in the Big Ten.

At the plate, Michigan is hitting .258 as a team, which ranks just above Northwestern for ninth in the conference. Jonathan Engelmann leads the everyday starters with a .324 clip and .463 slugging percentage, while Jordan Nwogu is hitting a team-high .333 in 19 games played. Junior Ako Thomas, Michigan's lead-off man, has reached base in all 27 games and freshman Jesse Franklin was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week (April 1) after hitting .500 with a .938 slugging percentage in Michigan's four games last week.

The last time the 'Cats faced off with Michigan was in last year's Big Ten Tournament, where the second-seeded Wildcats upset No. 2 Michigan, 6-4, in the opening round. Alex Erro, Jack Claeys, Connor Lind and Leo Kaplan each tallied a pair of hits in the win, while Erro led the way with three RBI.

ON THE MOUND
Associate head coach/pitching coach Josh Reynolds has elected to go with the same starting rotation of Quinn Lavelle (3-2, 2.10 ERA), Hank Christie (2-2, 6.21 ERA) and Jack Pagliarini (1-2, 3.00 ERA).

Rookie left-hander Lavelle was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week on Monday after having a lights-out performance against Maryland (March 30) where he threw a complete-game shutout and fanned a career-high eight batters. The Cleveland, Ohio, native is the first Northwestern rookie pitcher to earn the weekly award since Brandon Magallones did so in 2012. Lavelle's ERA on the season is now 2.10, ranking him fourth among all Big Ten pitchers. Opposing batters have only managed to hit .221 against the lefty thus far, solidifying his status as an elite arm in the conference and an ace in a strong starting rotation.

Christie is looking to bounce back after just throwing 0.2 innings in his start at Maryland last week. Coming into his start at Maryland, the Oak Park, Illinois, native had thrown three consecutive outings of 5.2-or-more innings. The last time Christie pitched at Miller Park (March 24), he took a perfect game into the fifth, setting down the first 13 batters he faced.

Pagliarini has continued to settle in to the Sunday starter role after another good outing in the finale against Maryland. The rookie tossed 7.2 innings and struck out seven, adding to his team-leading total of 35, which ranks him tied for fifteenth in the Big Ten. After giving up two runs in the bottom of the first, the southpaw retired 15 consecutive batters. Pagliarini has gone at least 6.0 innings in all four of his starts and is averaging at 5.75 strikeouts in those outings.

ALWAYS MOVING
Northwestern has remained among the most aggressive on the base path in the conference, ranking second in both triples and stolen bases. Sophomore Alex Erro and junior Jack Dunn still rank top-10 in the conference individually in stolen bases. Erro leads the team with 11, ranking him third in the league, with Dunn right behind him with 10 which ranks him seventh.

CAN'T STOP ERRO
Erro continues to be a major threat every time he gets in the box for the 'Cats. He extended his hitting streak over the weekend to 14 games. The second baseman has recorded at least one hit in every game since March 3, and is hitting .389 since then. His average on the season now sits at .310, which leads the regular starters. His 26 hits and five doubles also lead the team, and his total of only six strikeouts in 84 at-bats rank him the hardest strikeout on the team and 30^th in the country.

BIG BAT JACK
Senior catcher Jack Claeys had a great series against Maryland, including a three-for-four game Saturday that included two home runs and four RBI. It was the first multi-homer game of his career. Claeys average has climbed in the past seven games from .195 to .277, which would mark a career-best pace, and his four home runs on the season is now tied for the team lead. The Eden Prairie, Minnesota, native's .508 slugging percentage and 15 RBI both rank him second on the team behind slugger Willie Bourbon.