Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Duke
Northwestern Set to Battle Duke in Durham
2/21/2019 4:39:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL: GAME-DAY INFO | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | ONLINE STREAM | RADIO STREAM | LIVE STATS |
| Saturday, Feb. 23 | Duke | 3 p.m. | Jack Coombs Field | WatchESPN | WNUR | GoDuke.com |
| Saturday, Feb. 23 | Duke | 7 p.m. | Jack Coombs Field | WatchESPN | WNUR | GoDuke.com |
| Sunday, Feb. 24 | Duke | 12 p.m. | Durham Bulls Athletic Park | WatchESPN | WNUR | GoDuke.com |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | Duke |
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EVANSTON, Ill. – After picking up a pair of wins to start the season in Arizona, the Wildcats are set to battle undefeated Duke in a three-game set in Durham.
UPDATE: Due to inclement weather, Friday's game was postponed and Saturday's doubleheader was delayed. NU and Duke will play a doubleheader now starting at 3 p.m. CT.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, Feb. 22
Duke: LHP Graeme Stinson (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Northwestern: RHP Hank Christie (0-0, 1.50 ERA)
Saturday, Feb. 23
Duke: RHP Bryce Jarvis (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Northwestern: LHP Sam Lawrence (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Sunday, Feb. 24
Duke: RHP Cooper Stinsom (0-0, 7.36 ERA)
Northwestern: LHP Quinn Lavelle (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
News and notes...
144 AND COUNTING: Northwestern is in the midst of its 144th season of intercollegiate competition ... NU is set to play its second series of the season, a three-game set against Duke at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
A BIT ABOUT THE SKIP: Spencer Allen is in his fourth season as the head coach of the Northwestern baseball team ... He was named the 26th head baseball coach in NU history on June 14, 2015 ... In 2017, Allen led the Wildcats to its first appearance in the Big Ten Tournament since 2010 and a run to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game for the first time since 1984.
DOING SOME RECON: Duke has gotten out to a 4-0 start this season, outscoring their opposition 26-7. The Blue Devils are led by their Friday starter Graeme Stinson ... The southpaw is ranked the fourth-best college prospect by Baseball America .... He struck out six batters in 3.0 innings in his season debut on Feb. 15 against Lehigh.
NOT DUNN YET: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has started every game since coming to Evanston, a 164-game streak ... Dunn hit a career-best .314 last season while stealing a career-high 21 bases while only getting caught three times.
MR. 305: Junior infielder Alex Erro hit .296 last year and, in 196 at-bats, only struck out 21 times ... That is 10.7 percent of the time ... In his career, he's only struck out 39 times in 429 at-bats (9.1 percent).
ADDED PRODUCTION: Northwestern added seven rookies to their roster, highlighted by catcher/outfielder Michael Trautwein, the son of Northwestern alumni and former relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, John Trautwein ... NU will also welcome back David Dunn, who played in 10 games last season, batting .324 with a .939 OPS, before suffering a season-ending injury and received a redshirt ... David is the younger brother of Wildcat stalwart, Jack.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Last year, six underclassmen position players made 15 or more starts, while 45-of-49 games started by pitchers were made by underclassmen ... Returning that 92 percent of games started from last season is the best mark in the nation ... Overall, the Wildcats return 22 letterwinners.
SAM, I AM: Junior lefty Sam Lawrence started the first game of his collegiate career against BYU on Feb. 16, throwing 5.0-scoreless innings and earning the win ... Lawrence looked like his first-year self, when he tossed 47.1 innings pitched with a 2.85 ERA out of the bullpen ... Lawrence may be back new and improved, boasting a 9.0 K/9 ratio through the early 2019 season, which trumps his mark of 4.6 during the 2017 season.
HOT START: Senior infielder Willie Bourbon reached base 11 times in his 18 plate appearances during Opening Week for an impressive .611 on-base percentage, which ranks fourth in the Big Ten ... Bourbon walked six times in four games, which leads the Conference, and ranks in the top-20 nationwide ... The left-handed batter also clubbed a solo home-run against Cal for the 11th long-ball of his career, boosting his slugging percentage this season to .667, which leads the team.
THIS AND THAT: Northwestern is second in the Big Ten in hits heading into the second weekend of the season with 34. The Wildcats are also third in walks with 22.
GOING STREAKING: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has reached base safely in 30-consecutive games, dating back to April 7, 2018 vs. Michigan ... Junior infielder Alex Erro is on a career-long 18-game hitting streak, dating to April 28, 2018 at Penn State ... His previous career-long hitting skein was a 16-game stretch between Feburary 24, 2017 and March 21, 2017.
ROAD WARRIORS: The 'Cats are on the road for the first 10 games of the season and for 16 of the first 17 games of the season.
NATIONAL RECOGNITION: D1Baseball.com picked three 'Cats in their 2019 Draft Big Ten top prospects list — infielders Jack Dunn (No. 25) & Alex Erro (No. 31) plus right-handed pitcher Nick Paciorek (No. 37) ... Outfielder David Dunn is No. 14 on the 2020 list.
SET THE TABLE: Junior infielder Alex Erro was an effective kickstarter for the Northwestern offense in the first series of the season, batting .800 (4-for-5) as a leadoff batter.
HOMEGROWN: Of the Wildcats' 30-man roster, one third hail from Illinois ... The next-largest state contingent is Georgia, of which four Wildcats call home.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE EVERYTHING: D1Baseball.com listed a pair of Wildcats on their Big Ten "Impact Freshman" list — catcher/outfielder Michael Trautwein (No. 17) and infielder Shawn Goosenberg (No. 31).
AFTER THIS: Northwestern will head to Atlanta, Georgia, to take on Georgia Tech.
WELCOME TO THE 'CATS: On February 5, Allen and his coaching staff announced the addition of six members to the Class of 2023: RHP Jack Dyke (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prep), SS/2B Evan Minarovic (Houston, Texas/The John Cooper School), RHP Coby Moe (Grayslake, Ill./Grayslake Central), RHP Jack Sauser (Bloomington, Ill./University), RHP Reed Smith (Cypress, Texas/The John Cooper School), and INF/OF Luke Tanner (Los Angeles, Calif./Windward School).
LIMITING THE HITS, BIG AND SMALL: Sophomore left-handed pitcher Jack Pagliarini led the Wildcats last season with a 6.85 hits per nine innings rate last year ... He started eight games and compiled a 3.99 ERA ... He also allowed only two home runs all season, finishing with a 0.38 HR/9 rate, one of the best on the squad.
THE HOME DIGS: Northwestern's home venue, Rocky & Berenice Miller Park, was opened after renovations on March 30, 2016 ... The extensive renovation features Hayden Clubhouse and the Mogentale Players' Lounge plus a synthetic surface maximizing practice opportunities and minimizing game delays and cancellations.
