March 6, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - For a fourth consecutive weekend, the Northwestern baseball team travels south for a three-day tournament against nonconference competition. NU is at the DKD Electric Shootout this weekend in Albuquerque, N.M., where it will face host New Mexico, New Mexico State and Texas-Arlington.
NU gets underway at 11:30 a.m. Friday against the host Lobos, before meeting New Mexico State the same time Saturday and Texas-Arlington 11 a.m. Sunday.
At 6-2, NU is off to a hot start, but it could meet its match this weekend. New Mexico enters the fray with a 10-6 mark, its best start since 1993. The Lobos are 5-1 at home this season. Chad Alexander leads the Lobo attack with team-bests of eight home runs and 24 RBI. New Mexico State is 15-2, its best start in school history. Besides the Billy Becher's team-leading nine homers, 40 RBI and 29 hits, NMSU pits a strong bullben, highlighted by Andrew Garretson. The senior lefty has made six appearances, pitching 14 innings and allowing zero runs.
The Mavericks check in with an 8-9 record. UT-A is led by Ryan Roberts, who is batting .403 and has a team-high 25 hits.
Of NU's early-season successes, strong pitching has been a key contributor. Junior Dan Konecny (Ripon, Wis./Ripon) is 2-0 in three appearances, posting a 0.77 ERA. The righty has pitched 23.1 innings and given up only two runs. Northwestern holds a 3.47 team ERA. The 'Cats have outscored their first eight opponents 48-36.
NU is 1-2 against New Mexico and 1-4 against New Mexico State. The Texas-Arlington series is knotted at 1-1.