Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Rutgers
NU Travels to Rutgers for Last Road Big Ten Series
5/9/2019 2:56:00 PM | Baseball
| NORTHWESTERN BASEBALL: GAME-DAY INFO | ||||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | VIDEO STREAM | LIVE STATS | |
| Friday, May 10 | Rutgers | 1 p.m. CT | Bainton Field | BTN Plus via BTN2Go | ScarletKnights.com | |
| Saturday, May 11 | Rutgers | 10 a.m. CT | Bainton Field | BTN Plus via BTN2Go | ScarletKnights.com | |
| Saturday, May 11 | Rutgers | ~1:30 p.m. CT | Bainton Field | BTN Plus via BTN2Go | ScarletKnights.com | |
| Social: Twitter (@NUCatsBaseball and @NU_Sports) | Instagram (nucatsbaseball) | Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern |
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EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern is set to travel to Piscataway, New Jersey, to take on Rutgers this weekend.
UPDATE: Due to inclement weather on Sunday, NU and RU will play the final two games of the series on Saturday in a doubleheader.
News and notes...
FROM THE JUMP: The Wildcats are set to play their penultimaate Big Ten series of the season with a three-game set at Rutgers ... The trip to Piscataway will be NU's second all-time after making the trip in May 2016 ... The Wildcats took two of three in that set.
DOING SOME RECON: Rutgers is 19-26 overall this season but is 8-9 in the Big Ten, which puts the Scarlet Knights at seventh in the Conference ... RU split a two-game series with Penn State (finale was canceled) before falling, 4-3, to Villanova ... The Knights have gotten effective starting pitching, as two of their tossers (Tevin Murray and Tommy Genuario) have ERA's in the top-15 in the B1G.
NOT DUNN YET: Senior infielder Jack Dunn has started every game since coming to Evanston, a 204-game streak ... He has reached base in 62 of his last 67 games ... He has a hit in 37 of 44 games this season ... His .361 batting average is the second-best in the Big Ten ... His .455 on-base percentage is second-best in the Big Ten.
MR. 305: Junior infielder Alex Erro was on a tear in the month of April, hitting a team-best .412 (28-for-68), including eight extra-base hits and 18 RBI ... He also struck out only six times in the month ... Erro's .333 season batting average is ninth-best in the Big Ten ... His .377 batting average in Big Ten play is third-best in the Conference.
POP TIME: Rookie backstop Michael Trautwein has been effective behind the plate, as he has a 42.9 (15-for-35) caught stealing percentage this season ... That is tops in the Big Ten (min. 20 SBA) ... The next-highest in the Conference is Purdue's Zac Fascia (36.4 percent; 16-for-44).
SPEED DEMONS: NU has swiped 63 bags, the second-most in the Big Ten ... Six Wildcats have stolen five or more bases, while senior Ben Dickey sits atop of the NU leaderboard with 11.
SMALL BALL: Jack Dunn has bunted 16 times this season — 10 of those have been hits, six of those have been sacrifices.
WHAT A REVELATION: Junior righty Nick Paciorek, after converting from a catcher, has been a tremendous contributor for the Wildcats ... He has a 39.6% strikeout rate, the best mark in the Big Ten (min. 60 BF) and the 12th-best in the nation (min. 90 BF) ... Opposing batters are hitting .169 against Paciorek ... Paciorek's 21.4 strikeouts per nine innings against left-handed hitters is first in the Big Ten (min. 20 BF) ... He has struck out 45.2% of lefties he's faced, the highest mark in the Big Ten.
THIS AND THAT: Northwestern's batting average this season is .267, the fifth-best mark in the Conference ... Northwestern's .973 fielding percentage (45 E/1,636 TC) is third-best in the Conference.
WHEN IT MATTERS MOST: Senior infielder Jack Dunn is hitting a team-best .630 (29-for-46) with runners in scoring position ... His .455 clip (20-for-44) with two outs is the best mark for the Wildcats this season.
THIS ONLY INTERESTS ME: In 166 at-bats (second-most on the team), Jack Dunn has only struck out looking twice.
PATIENT AT THE PLATE: Six Wildcats — Jack Anderson, Willie Bourbon, Anthony Calarco, Ben Dickey, David Dunn, 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: Northwestern will return home play a mid-week contest against Notre Dame on Tuesday, May 14 ... After that, the Wildcats will stay home to play Minnesota (22-23, 11-7 B1G) in the last series of the year (Thursday–Friday–Saturday).
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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