Feb. 15, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. - Senior pitcher Evan Blesoff (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) and freshman outfielder Max Mann (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) were named Big Ten Pitcher and Player of the Week by the conference office today.
Blesoff picked up a victory in the season opener against Kansas State, allowing one run in five innings of action to collect Big Ten Pitcher of the Week laurels. In just his third career start, the senior right-hander allowed five hits and struck out two batters despite pitching in a constant rain. He is now 1-0 on the season with a 1.80 ERA.
Mann opened his collegiate career by driving in three runs in Northwestern's season-opening victory over Kansas State in Phoenix, to earn Big Ten Player of the Week accolades. With the Wildcats trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, the freshman outfielder came to the plate with the bases loaded and responded, driving a 3-1 pitch to the wall in left centerfield to score three runs and put Northwestern ahead to stay. Mann would later score to boost NU to a 4-1 lead.
NU is next in action, this weekend, traveling to Arlington, Texas, to compete in a tournament hosted by the University of Texas-Arlington. NU is slated to compete against host, Texas-Arlington (Friday at 3:30 p.m.), Arkansas State (Sat. at 11:30 a.m.) and a rematch vs. Kansas State (Sunday at 11:30 a.m.).