| Northwestern (11-26, 4-8 B1G) vs. Milwaukee | UIC |
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| Date | Time | vs. Milwaukee: Tuesday, April 21 (3 p.m.) vs. UIC: Wednesday, April 22 (3 p.m) |
| Location | Rocky Miller Park | Evanston, Ill. |
| Media | Live Stats: GameTracker Watch: BTN Plus |
| Social | @NUCatsBaseball | @NU_SportsLIVE |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The Wildcats return home to the newly renovated Rocky Miller Park for the first time this spring to host Milwaukee and crosstown rival UIC in a pair of midweek games. NU will host the Panthers on Tuesday, April 21, at 3 p.m. before taking on the Flames the following day (3 p.m.). Both games will be aired on BTN Plus.
SCOUTING MILWAUKEE
· The Panthers will ride a five-game winning streak into Tuesday's matchup. Milwaukee has tallied 31 runs during that span, including a 15-11 win over Chicago St.
· Milwaukee sits fourth in the Horizon League standings with a conference mark of 9-8.
· The Panthers are 9-7 in true road games this season
· Sam Koenig, who has started in all 34 games for the Panthers this spring, leads the squad with a .420 batting average, .733 slugging percentage and .513 on base percentage.
· Milwaukee has held its opponents to hitting .253, while posting a team batting average of .290.
· The Panthers average 1.63 stolen bases per game to rank 27th in the country.
· Milwaukee leads the Horizon league in slugging percentage (.419), stolen bases (49), strikeouts per nine innings (7.3) and triples (18).
LAST TIME OUT vs. MILWAUKEE
Northwestern surrendered three runs in the sixth inning, including a pair of unearned tallies, and the Milwaukee Panthers used that to scoot past the Wildcats on Wednesday, April 24, 2013, at Miller Park, 5-0.
SCOUTING UIC
· The Flames took two-of-three from Valparaiso this past weekend to remain on top of the Horizon League standings in second.
· UIC has won 12 of its last 17 outings and tout a road record of 9-3-1 this season.
· Sophomore Cody Bohanek continues to pace UIC at the plate with a batting average of .347 and an on-base percentage of .456. Senior Jeff Boehm leads the team and the Horizon League in RBI with 42, which ranks him within the nation's top-10 for RBI per game.
· The Flames' impressive .392 on-base percentage currently ranks 19th in the NCAA and their .980 fielding percentage sits in fourth behind Florida, North Florida and UCLA.
LAST TIME OUT vs. UIC UIC
threatened to knot the score in the bottom of the ninth, but fifth-year senior Kyle Ruchim made a game-ending throw to senior Scott Heelan at home plate to defeat the Flames, 4-3, in thrilling fashion on Wednesday, April 15 at Curtis Granderson Stadium. The Wildcats used seven pitchers in the contest as sophomore Joe Hoscheit earned the win after taking over on the mound in the seventh frame. Jake Stolley closed out the game and tallied his fifth save of the year for the `Cats.
NEXT UP FOR THE WILDCATS
Northwestern will resume Big Ten play this weekend when it hosts Ohio State for a three-game set, beginning Friday, April 24.
The first 250 fans at Saturday's game will receive a mini helmet. Boys and Girls ages 7-14 are invited to come out to Rocky Miller Park on Sunday, April 26, and show off their baseball and softball skills. Participants will have the opportunity to advance to future levels of competition that include the Team Championships at MLB ballparks and the National Finals which will take place at the 2015 All-Star Game.
WRECK `EM RUCHIM
Fifth-year senior Kyle Ruchim leads the Wildcats with a .352 batting average and has hit six of NU's 13 home runs for a season best. The outfielder also leads the squad in RBI (23), runs (24, hits (50) and slugging percentage (.599) to sit second in the Big Ten. This season, the senior tallied his 100th-career run against Ball State on March 6 and his 200th-career hit at Chicago State (March 31).
ROAD WARRIORS
Northwestern will finally play at home at the newly ronovated Rocky Miller Park this week. The Wildcats have not had a home game yet this season and played 37 road games before opening play in Evanston. NU is 9-18 in true road games this year.
DOUBLING UP
Fifth-year senior Scott Heelan, who is hitting .320 this spring, and Kyle Ruchim are tied for first in the Big Ten in doubles with 15, while junior Zach Jones is tied for fifth with 13 doubles apiece. The Wildcats sit second in the B1G in doubles behind Michigan with 83, averaging 2.36 doubles per game to sit 11th in the country.
ZACH ATTACK
Junior first baseman Zach Jones has played a critical role in the Wildcat's offense this year. The Glenview, Ill., native is hitting .318 and has tallied 18 runs on 48 hits along with 21 RBI and 13 doubles. On March 20, Jones tied a school record for hits in a single game when tallied seven against UNLV. The junior has reached base in 19-consecutive games.
HOT BATS
Northwestern ranks among the Big Ten top seven in multiple offensive categories including second in doubles (83) and at bats (1380), fourth in hits (387) and sixth in total bases (509) and batting average (.275). On Sunday, March 29, the Wildcats clinched their first Big Ten series with a commanding 19-7 win over Minnesota. The 19 runs scored were the most by NU since 2006 when the squad edged past Illinois in a 19-18 slugfest. The Wildcats have registered double-digit hits in eight of their last 12 games.
MILESTONE MAGS'
Senior Brandon Magallones recorded his 200th-career strikeout in a 19-7 win over Minnesota (March 29). The right-handed pitcher earned the win after pitching five innings and fanning five batters. On Friday, April 17th, Magallones pitched seven shutout innings and cracked Northwestern all-time top 10 for career strikeouts against Iowa. The senior finished the game with 208 career Ks and now sits eighth on NU's all-time top 10.
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