EVANSTON, Ill. -- During a weekend that will see freezing temperatures in Chicagoland, Northwestern will head west to open the 2015 season at the Surprise College Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz. The Wildcats will play three games at Surprise Stadium, the spring training home of the Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers.
Friday's lid-lifter features Chicago's Big Ten Team and a perennially powerful Oregon State team at 2 p.m. CT (1 p.m. local time). The Beavers won 45 games in 2014 and their second consecutive Pac-12 championship under head coach Pat Casey. Outfielder Jeff Hendrix wields the top returning bat for the Beavers. The Corvallis, Ore., native hit .351 a year ago with 32 RBI and 18 extra-base hits.
On the mound, the Wildcats are slated to face junior RHP Andrew Moore who is one 50 players nationally on the 2015 Golden Spikes Award watch list. Moore won six of his 14 starts as a sophomore and posted an ERA of 2.77 with 68 strikeouts in 94.1 innings pitched.
Northwestern returns Saturday, Feb. 14 to play another unfamiliar foe, the New Mexico Lobos. UNM has been tabbed as the Mountain West Conference's preseason favorite by the league's head coaches. Twenty-five percent of the MWC's Preseason All-Conference Team is made of Lobos, including Sam Haggerty and Danny Collier, the conference's last two Freshman of the Year award winners. Haggerty is a junior infielder that batted .340 with 38 RBI and a team-high 14 stolen bases last year. Collier, an outfielder, hit .353 in 38 games.
New Mexico is schedule to throw junior southpaw Toller Boardman at NU. He is at his third school in three seasons after playing at Texas in 2013 and San Jacinto Junior College in 2014. Saturday's game is slated for a 6 p.m. CT (5 p.m. local time) first pitch at Surprise Stadium.
The finale on Sunday, Feb. 15 features an opponent that the 'Cats are actually quite familiar with, the Michigan State Spartans. MSU won 31 games in 2014 and it reached the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. The veteran squad boasts eight seniors, including Blaise Salter, one of the top power hitters in the Big Ten, Jeff Kinley, an experienced closer, and starting pitcher Mick VanVossen, an All-Big Ten selection and the team's reigning MVP.
Sunday's game, which is slated to begin at noon CT (11 a.m. local time), will not count as a Big Ten game. The Wildcats and Spartans also met two years ago on the season's opening weekend when Michigan State won a close game at the First Pitch Invitational in Greenville, S.C., on Feb. 17, 2013. Junior Anthony Misiewicz will get the ball against Northwestern. He surrendered one run, a solo homer off the bat of RJ Watters, in 1.2 innings of relief against NU last season.
For its part, Northwestern returns a great deal of its core, especially in the starting rotation and in the lineup. The Wildcats, under head coach Paul Stevens, return their top five hitters from a year ago, led by sophomore outfielder Matt Hopfner and fifth-year senior catcher Scott Heelan. Hopfner led the Wildcats in batting average (.335) and hits (66) as he earned Freshman All-America honors in 2014. Heelan, who split time at second base and catcher in 2014, hit .317 while leading the 'Cats with 33 RBI.
Senior right-hander Brandon Magallones will get the nod on Opening Day against Oregon State. He owns 16 wins and a 4.27 ERA with 159 strikeouts in 42 appearances on the mound (36 starts). Magallones will be backed up on the mound this weekend by a pair of junior southpaws. Reed Mason will throw for the Wildcats against New Mexico. He led the squad 82.2 IP in 15 appearances as a sophomore a year ago. Finally, Matt Portland is scheduled to start the finale against Michigan State. He made only six starts a year ago during a season that was cut short by injury.
Links to live stats for all three games at the Surprise College Baseball classic are available on the Northwestern Baseball Schedule page. A live audio broadcast for the season opener against Oregon State is also available.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and Instagram, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook and sign up to receive promotional text alerts for the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!