April 24, 2009
NU Game Notes vs. Ohio State (PDF)
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Northwestern hits the road for Big Ten play this weekend as it travels to Big Ten leader Ohio State. Single games are set for 5:30 p.m. CT Friday and noon on both Saturday and Sunday.
The Wildcats are coming off a 13-3 victory at Illinois State on Wednesday behind a season-high four home runs. Tony Vercelli went deep twice, doubled and drove in five runs. Chris Lashmet contributed two doubles, a homer and four RBI and Trevor Stevens added three hits of his own. Freshman right-hander Zach Morton went the first five innings and didn't allow a run to earn his first collegiate victory. He surrendered just two hits and faced only one over the minimum.
If Vercelli had his druthers, he'd likely play every game on Wednesday. The Wildcat senior has homered twice in each of NU's last two games played on Wednesdays. Vercelli socked a pair of longballs in Northwestern's 5-1 victory over Notre Dame at U.S. Cellular Field April 15 in addition to the performance against Illinois State. In the team's last five games, Vercelli has driven in 12 runs. He leads the team with eight homers and 27 RBI and is second with nine doubles this season.
NU comes into the series as winners of four of its last five games, including splitting two contests at home against Iowa last weekend.
Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes (29-9, 9-3 Big Ten) enter play this weekend a game up in the win column over Indiana for the top spot in the Big Ten. Ohio State swept a three-game series at Purdue last weekend before falling to Ball State 20-8 at home on Wednesday. Ryan Dew paces the Buckeyes with a .386 battting average while Dan Burkhart is batting .380 with eight doubles, seven homers and a team-high 43 RBI. OSU paces the Big Ten in numerous offensive categories including a team batting average of .330, a .508 slugging percentage and 43 home runs.
Series History: Ohio State leads, 80-43.
Last Season: The teams split a four-game series in Evanston April 25-27, 2008. The Buckeyes won Friday's opener 11-2 before NU won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 6-4 and Ohio State took the nightcap 13-1. The Wildcats took Sunday's finale 14-8.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday - LHP Joe Muraski vs. RHP Alex Wimmers
Saturday - LHP Eric Jokisch vs. RHP Dean Wolosiansky
Sunday - RHP Zach Morton vs. LHP Eric Best