Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Missouri
Northwestern Ready to Take on Missouri in Columbia
3/7/2019 2:39:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL: GAME-DAY INFO | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | ONLINE STREAM | RADIO STREAM | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, March 7 | Missouri | 3 p.m. | Taylor Stadium | SEC Network+ | WNUR | StatBroadcast |
| Saturday, March 8 | Missouri | 3 p.m. | Taylor Stadium | N/A | WNUR | StatBroadcast |
| Sunday, March 9 | Missouri | 1 p.m. | Taylor Stadium | SEC Network+ | WNUR | StatBroadcast |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern | Missouri |
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EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern is ready to take on Missouri on Friday-Sunday (March 7-9) in Columbia. Due to weather, both Friday and Saturday's games have been moved to 3 p.m. CT starts.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, March 7
Missouri: LHP TJ Sikkema (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Northwestern: LHP Quinn Lavelle (1-0, 1.10 ERA)
Saturday, March 8
Missouri: LHP Jacob Cantleberry (1-0, 1.08 ERA)
Northwestern: RHP Hank Christie (0-1, 5.17 ERA)
Sunday, March 9
Missouri: TBD
Northwestern: TBD
News and notes...
144 AND COUNTING: Northwestern is in the midst of its 144th season of intercollegiate competition ... NU is set to play its four series of the season, a three-game set at Missouri ... NU will be making its first trip to Columbia in nearly 89 years.
IRON SHARPENS IRON: Through the first two weeks of the season, Northwestern has the seventh-strongest strength of schedule in the nation ... NU has picked up two quadrant one wins (over Duke and BYU) and a quadrant two win (Georgia Tech).
DOING SOME RECON: Missouri is 6-5 in the early 2019 slate ... Before a 6-3 setback to South Dakota State (March 2), the Tigers were on a four-game winning streak ... MU pitchers have combined for a 3.43 ERA through nine game (37 ER/97.0 IP), led by TJ Sikkema's 0.00 mark (0 ER/12.2 IP) ... He has fanned 19 and walked only three.
HISTORY IS FUN!: The last time these two squads matched up, NU topped Mizzou, 5-3, in an Opening Day contest on Feb. 15, 2003 ... Then-sophomore — and current New York Yankee — J.A. Happ gave up one run on two hits over 5.0 IP.
THE BROTHERS ARE GETTING IT DUNN: Redshirt first-year David Dunn is third in the Big Ten with a .382 batting average ... His brother, Jack, is narrowly behind him, as his .381 batting average is in fourth place in the Conference ... The duo are also in the top-ten in on-base percentage (Jack, .447, 3rd; David, .432, 9th).
THIS AND THAT: Northwestern's team batting average of .250 is the fifth-best mark in the Big Ten after the first three weekends ... The 'Cats drew 46 walks in the first three weeks, tied for second-best in the Conference ... NU also swiped 15 bags, the fourth-most in the B1G ... 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 .969 fielding percentage (11 E/358 TC) is third-best in the Conference.
HOME SWEET HOME: Rookie southpaw Parker Hanks (Ozark, Mo.) will be making a return to his home state ... Ozark is about 175 miles southwest of Columbia ... In three appearances totalling 3.2 innings pitched, Hanks has fanned seven and walked only one.
NOT DUNN YET: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has started every game since coming to Evanston, a 170-game streak ... He is riding a 36-game on-base streak, dating back to April 7, 2018 vs. Michigan.
ROAD WARRIORS: Due to NU's postponement of its March 5 game against UIC, the 'Cats are on the road for the first 17 games of the season.
CALAR-CRUSHING IT: Anthony Calarco is pacing all Big Ten first-years with a 21.2 BB% (7 BB/33 PA) ... He's also third among Conference rookies with a .424 OBP ... The Winnetka, Illinois, native has driven in six runs and has scored five times in eight 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 45 times in 471 at-bats (9.6 percent).
NOW BATTING, WILLIE BOURBON: Despite his batting average tapering off since a scorching opening series, senior Willie Bourbon has still been extremely effective at reaching base through the free pass ... His 26.2 BB% (11 BB/42 PA) paces all Big Ten batters (min. 30 PA).
WHAT A REVELATION: Junior righty Nick Paciorek, after converting from a catcher, has been a tremedous contributor for the Wildcats ... He has two saves in five appearances, totalling 6.0 IP ... His 45.8 strikeout percentage is third-best in the Big Ten (min. 10 BF) ... He has been hot as of late, as 10 of his last 13 outs have been recorded via the punchout.
QUINNIE THE POOH: Sophomore southpaw Quinn Lavelle has been a steady presence for the 'Cats as their Sunday starter ... His 1.10 ERA (3 ER/16.1 IP) is the best mark for an underclassman in the Big Ten.
