Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Northwestern to Open Big Ten Play vs. Purdue
3/21/2019 9:47:00 AM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL: GAME-DAY INFO | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | ONLINE STREAM | RADIO STREAM | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, March 22 | Purdue | 3 p.m. | Miller Park | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | WNUR | NUsports |
| Saturday, March 23 | Purdue | 2 p.m. | Miller Park | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | WNUR | NUsports |
| Sunday, March 24 | Purdue | 12 p.m. | Miller Park | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | WNUR | NUsports |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | Purdue |
||||||
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern is ready to start its conference slate with a three-game set against Purdue at Miller Park.
UPDATE: Due to weather concerns, Sunday's finale has been moved up to 12 p.m. CT.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, March 22
Purdue: LHP Patrick J. Smith (1-1, 4.29 ERA)
Northwestern: LHP Quinn Lavelle (1-2, 4.81 ERA)
Saturday, March 23
Purdue: RHP Andrew Bohm (0-2, 6.08 ERA)
Northwestern: RHP Hank Christie (0-2, 8.14 ERA)
Sunday, March 24
Purdue: LHP Ryan Beard (0-3, 6.65 ERA)
Northwestern: TBD
News and notes...
WEEKEND ACTION: Northwestern is set to play their first Big Ten competitions of the season with a three-game set against Purdue ... This is the third-straight season that the Wildcats have started their Big Ten slate at home.
DOING SOME RECON: Purdue is in the midst of a five-game week after a pair of contests against Ball State and versus Bowling Green .... The Boilermakers split the mid-weeks, with a setback to Ball State and a win over Bowling Green ... Purdue's Friday starter, Patrick J. Smith, leads the Boilermakers' starting corps with a 4.29 ERA and a .217 BAA.
THE BROTHERS ARE GETTING IT DUNN: Redshirt first-year David Dunn and senior Jack Dunn are fourth and sixth in the Big Ten in batting average, respectively ... David is hitting .344, while Jack is hitting .339 ... NU and Nebraska are the only B1G teams with at least two players inside the top-eight in batting average.
THIS AND THAT: Northwestern's team batting average of .253 is the eighth-best mark in the Big Ten ... NU has hit five triples, tied for the most in the Conference ... NU has also swiped 26 bags, tied for the third-most in the B1G ... The Wildcats have grounded into only seven double plays, the fourth-fewest in the Conference ... NU's 16 strikeouts by their pitchers on the Feb. 22 game at Duke is tied for the most by a Big Ten team this season ... Northwestern's .972 fielding percentage (16 E/579 TC) is third-best in the Conference.
IRON SHARPENS IRON: Through the first two weeks of the season, Northwestern has the 36th-strongest strength of schedule in the nation.
NOT DUNN YET: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has started every game since coming to Evanston, a 176-game streak ... He has reached base in 38 of his last 39 games, dating back to last season ... His .440 on-base percentage is seventh-best in the Big Ten.
ROAD WARRIORS: NU played 15 of their first 16 games on the road.
#HOMEGROWN: Anthony Calarco is second among all Big Ten first-years (min. 40 PA) with a 17.4 BB% (8 BB/46 PA) ... The Winnetka, Illinois, native has driven in six runs and has scored five times in 11 games.
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 49 times in 495 at-bats (9.9 percent).
TAKE YOUR BASE: Few Big Ten baseball players have been more effective at drawing walks this season than senior Willie Bourbon ... His total walks (14) are tied for third in the Conference, while his base on balls per game mark (0.88) is fourth.
WHAT A REVELATION: Junior righty Nick Paciorek, after converting from a catcher, has been a tremendous contributor for the Wildcats ... He has two saves in seven appearances, totaling 7.2 IP ... His 39.4 strikeout percentage is third-best in the Big Ten (min. 10 BF) ... He has been hot as of late, as 12 of his last 18 outs have been recorded via the punchout ... Opposing batters are hitting .148 against Paciorek.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: Senior infielder Jack Dunn is hitting a team-best .526 (10-for-19) with runners in scoring position ... He also leads NU with a .412 clip with two outs (7-for-17) ... His seven two-out RBI are tied fof the most on the squad (with O'Laughlin).
ROOKIE RELIEF: Northwestern is the only Big Ten team to have at least two rookie pitchers with a sub-1.00 WHIP (min. 20 BF) as Parker Hanks (0.99) and Tommy D'Alise (0.98) have been strong to start their rookie campaigns ... NU is only one of 10 teams in the country to have at least two newcomers do so.
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.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Last year, six underclassmen position players made 15 or more starts ... 92 percent of games started by underclassmen pitchers last season led the nation (tied with Georgia Tech) ... Overall, the Wildcats return 22 letterwinners.
NEXT UP: The Wildcats will travel slightly south to face off at Chicago State on Wednesday, March 27 ... The match-up will be the first of two this season between the Chicagoland squads.
