April 17, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Winners of five of its last seven, Northwestern hits the road this weekend as it travels to Iowa for a four-game series. The Wildcats enter the set tied for fifth place in the Big Ten, while the Hawkeyes are tied for eighth. Just two games separate fourth place from 10th place in the conference standings entering play this weekend.
Friday night's opening game is slated for 6 p.m., while Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's finale are each set to get underway at 1 p.m.
Gametracker is available for all four games and can be accessed via NUsports.com. A free live audio webcast (registration required) for the entire series is available at hawkeyesports.com.
Series History: Iowa leads 123-92.
Last Season: The Hawkeyes won all four games of last season's series in Evanston April 27-29.
Last Time Out
NU (10-16, 5-7) is coming off its second consecutive Big Ten split, taking a pair of games from Minnesota at home last weekend. The series was delayed two days before the Golden Gophers took the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader, 7-4. Northwestern bounced back in the nightcap, rolling to a 10-0 win. Chris Lashmet hit a grand slam, Jake Goebbert had a three-run double and co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Joe Muraski hurled a two-hit shutout with a career-high seven strikeouts.
The Wildcats used some late heroics in taking Monday's first game 6-5. Tommy Finn's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth capped a comeback from a 5-2 deficit. Eric Jokisch got the win, while Matt Havey tossed the final two innings to pick up the save. Minnesota was able to earn the series split by pulling away late for a 9-3 victory in the second contest.
Muraski Named Pitcher of the Week
Sophomore left-hander Joe Muraski was named the co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week April 15 after tossing consecutive complete-game shutouts. He scattered five hits in five-plus innings of work in a 13-0 win over Chicago State April 8, striking out four. Six days later in a 10-0 win over Minnesota, Muraski went all seven innings and allowed just two hits while striking out a career-high seven batters. The effort against the Golden Gophers came just days after the passing of his grandfather.
Havey's Helping Hand
Senior right-hander Matt Havey has been a bright spot out of the bullpen for the 'Cats, sporting a Big Ten-leading 1.03 ERA. The mark ranks fourth nationally. Nine of his 10 appearances have come out of the 'pen, including picking up the win in a 5-4 victory over Michigan State April 6 during which he tossed 3.2 innings of scoreless, one-hit relief. He also leads the team with two saves. Opponents are batting just .229 against Havey in '08.
Scouting Iowa
The Hawkeyes' 8-3 win over Creighton on Wednesday ran their winning streak to four games, including victories in the final three contests at Indiana last weekend.
Senior Caleb Curry leads Iowa with a .402 batting average, 35 RBI and 23 stolen bases. Junior Andrew Porter has team bests of 20 appearances and a 2.39 ERA on the mound.
The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten with 72 stolen bases in 92 attempts. They are also tops with having picked off 13 baserunners.
Up Next...
Northwestern returns home to face Robert Morris (Ill.) at 3 p.m. Tuesday before opening a four-game series with Ohio State on Friday at Rocky Miller Park.