Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Wildcats Host Minnesota for Final Big Ten Series
5/15/2019 2:30:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL: GAME-DAY INFO | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | |
| Thursday, May 16 | Minnesota | 3:30 p.m. CT | Rocky & Berenice Miller Park | BTN Plus via BTN2Go | NUsports | |
| Friday, May 17 | Minnesota | 2 p.m. CT | Rocky & Berenice Miller Park | Big Ten Network | NUsports | |
| Saturday, May 18 | Minnesota | 1 p.m. CT | Rocky & Berenice Miller Park | BTN Plus via BTN2Go | NUsports | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball and @NU_Sports) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern |
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EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern is set to host Minnesota for the final regular season series of the year. Saturday will be NU's Senior Day celebration.
Friday's contest will be broadcast by the Big Ten Network.
The Wildcats are in seventh place in the Big Ten heading into the weekend. The top eight teams in the Conference advance to next week's Big Ten Tournament.
News and notes...
FROM THE JUMP: The Wildcats are set to play their final Big Ten series of the year with a three-game set against Minnesota starting on Thursday ... The Wildcats have won back-to-back Big Ten series, winning five out of their last seven Conference games.
DOING SOME RECON: Minnesota is 24-24, with a 13-8 record in Big Ten play ... The Golden Gophers have also won two-straight Big Ten series, sweeping Ohio State before taking two out of three against Maryland ... Minnesota is tied for third in the Big Ten ... The Gophers have been led all season by their ace Max Meyer and his 2.28 ERA.
NOT DUNN YET: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has started every game since coming to Evanston, a 208-game streak, the longest consecutive-start streak in Northwestern history ... He has reached base in 65 of his last 71 games ... His .344 batting average and .438 on-base percentage are both fifth-best in the Big Ten ... He also ranks in the top-12 in the Conference in runs scored (39; 7th) and runs batted in (36; 12th).
MR. 305: Junior infielder Alex Erro has been on an absolute tear over his last month-plus ... Over his last 22 games (since April 6 at Ohio State), he is slashing .400/.441/.579 over 95 at-bats with seven doubles, two triples, and two home runs ... He has also driven in 18 runs and stolen three bases ... His 55 total bases over the stretch are by far the most on the squad ... Shawn Goosenberg is next with 33.
POP TIME: Rookie backstop Michael Trautwein has been effective behind the plate, as he has a 42.1 (16-for-38) caught stealing percentage this season ... That is tops in the Big Ten (min. 20 SBA) ... The next-highest in the Conference is Michigan State's Adam Proctor (12-for-33; 36.3).
THIS ONLY INTERESTS ME: In 180 at-bats (second-most on the team), Jack Dunn has only struck out looking three times.
SPEED DEMONS: NU has swiped 71 bags, the second-most in the Big Ten ... Seven Wildcats have stolen five or more bases, while senior Ben Dickey sits atop of the NU leaderboard with a career-high tying 13.
SMALL BALL: Jack Dunn has bunted 17 times this season — 10 of those have been hits, seven of those have been sacrifices ... As a team, Northwestern has bunted 46 times ... 22 have been hits, 18 have been sacrifices, and only six have been outs that were not sacrifices.
NOTES ON NICK: Junior righty Nick Paciorek, after converting from a catcher, has been a tremendous contributor for the Wildcats ... He has a 39.8% strikeout rate, the best mark in the Big Ten and the 10th-best in the nation (min. 90 BF) ... It is also the second-best rate in Power Five baseball, trailing only Mississippi State's Ethan Small (44.3%) ... Opposing batters are hitting .170 against Paciorek ... He has struck out 43.8% of lefties he's faced, the highest mark in the Big Ten (min. 20 BF).
THIS AND THAT: Northwestern's batting average this season is .265, the fifth-best mark in the Conference ... Northwestern's .973 fielding percentage (48 E/1,786 TC) is third-best in the Conference.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: Senior infielder Jack Dunn is hitting a team-best .612 (30-for-49) with runners in scoring position ... His .348 clip (21-for-48) with two outs is the best mark for the Wildcats this season.
PATIENT AT THE PLATE: Seven Wildcats — Jack Anderson, Willie Bourbon, Anthony Calarco, Ben Dickey, David Dunn, Jack Kelly, and Charlie Maxwell — average seeing 4.0-plus pitches per plate appearance ... Calarco's average of 4.4 pitches per plate appearance lead all 'Cats.
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.
UP NEXT: If NU seals up qualification, the Wildcats will play in the Big Ten Tournament for the second time in the last three seasons ... The Tournament will be held at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, the home of the College World Series.
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.
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).
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.
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