EVANSTON, Ill. — After consecutive trips out west to open the 2016 season, Northwestern baseball will head east to Florida this weekend for four games at the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte.
The Wildcats (4-4) will open up their weekend slate with Division-II Saint Leo on Friday at 5 p.m. CT, before playing a pair of games on Saturday against Boston College (10 a.m. CT) and Butler (2 p.m. CT). Northwestern will conclude its trip to the Sunshine State with a match up against Illinois State on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
ON THE BUMP
Head coach Spencer Allen will give sophomore Dan Kubiuk his first collegiate start on Friday versus Saint Leo. Kubiuk, who is also a quarterback for the Wildcats' football team, is in his first season with the club and has made three appearances out of the bullpen this year, holding opposing batters to a .238 average.
Lefty Reed Mason will make his third start of the season on Saturday morning when Northwestern takes on Boston College. The senior has a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched. Mason picked up his first victory of the season, and seventh of his career, last weekend at Pacific when he went 5.0 innings, giving up one run and striking out three.
Allen and his staff have not yet announced the starters for the final two games of the weekend.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saint Leo (8-7) enters the game against Northwestern coming off a 10-3 win against fellow Division-II foe Saint Anselm on Monday night. Junior Mike Mann is hitting .535 (10-for-39) with a .615 slugging percentage for the Lions.
Boston College (7-0) is off to its best start since 1974. The Eagles played their annual spring exhibition against Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox on Monday at the Red Sox's JetBlue Park and fell to the pros, 6-0, in seven innings.
Boston College will throw RHP Mike King against Northwestern on Saturday. King is 2-0 on the season with a 1.32 ERA. Donovan Casey has a team-best 10 hits in six games played.
After beginning the season on a six-game losing streak, Butler (2-6) captured back-to-back victories over Charleston Southern (Feb. 28) and Marion (March 2) to get in the win column.
The Bulldogs will give Jeff Schank the ball when they take on Northwestern. Schank has recorded a pair of losses in his two outings this season and opponents are hitting .340 off of him.
Four Butler players are hitting above .400. Chris Marras leads the team with a .455 mark, while Tyler Houston and Connor Dall have accrued .438 and .421 batting averages, respectively. Chris Maranto rounds out the bunch with a .407 average.
Illinois State enters the weekend with a 2-5 overall record. The Redbirds will face Indiana and Ohio State this weekend before they play Northwestern on Sunday. The Wildcats will face Illinois State's David Meade on Sunday. Meade (0-1) has made two start this season and has tallied a 7.27 ERA in 8.2 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern took two of four games last weekend in its series at Pacific. The Wildcats opened the weekend with a 3-1 victory on Friday night and closed the trip with a 14-5 win on Sunday.
Pacific swept Saturday's doubleheader, winning both games by a score of 7-3.
ACE IN THE HOLE
Northwestern is a perfect 2-0 against opposing team's Friday night starters this season. In the opener, the Wildcats faced the reigning Mountain West Pitcher of the Year in Christian Stolo and knocked him around for seven hits, two runs and a win. The team followed that up a week later by collecting six hits and three runs off Pacific's Will Lydon.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
There is a bit of a youth movement for Northwestern early in the season. Freshman shortstop Jack Dunn is leading the team in hits (12) and batting average (.387), while classmate Willie Bourbon has a team-best seven RBIs.
On the mound, sophomore Tommy Bordignon has come out of the bullpen to pitch 8.1-scoreless innings and has only surrendered one hit in 28 batters faced. Bordignon earned a win in his first relief appearance (vs. Nevada, Feb. 19) and the save in his second appearance (at Pacific, Feb. 26).
The Wildcats (4-4) will open up their weekend slate with Division-II Saint Leo on Friday at 5 p.m. CT, before playing a pair of games on Saturday against Boston College (10 a.m. CT) and Butler (2 p.m. CT). Northwestern will conclude its trip to the Sunshine State with a match up against Illinois State on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
ON THE BUMP
Head coach Spencer Allen will give sophomore Dan Kubiuk his first collegiate start on Friday versus Saint Leo. Kubiuk, who is also a quarterback for the Wildcats' football team, is in his first season with the club and has made three appearances out of the bullpen this year, holding opposing batters to a .238 average.
Lefty Reed Mason will make his third start of the season on Saturday morning when Northwestern takes on Boston College. The senior has a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings pitched. Mason picked up his first victory of the season, and seventh of his career, last weekend at Pacific when he went 5.0 innings, giving up one run and striking out three.
Allen and his staff have not yet announced the starters for the final two games of the weekend.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Saint Leo (8-7) enters the game against Northwestern coming off a 10-3 win against fellow Division-II foe Saint Anselm on Monday night. Junior Mike Mann is hitting .535 (10-for-39) with a .615 slugging percentage for the Lions.
Boston College (7-0) is off to its best start since 1974. The Eagles played their annual spring exhibition against Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox on Monday at the Red Sox's JetBlue Park and fell to the pros, 6-0, in seven innings.
Boston College will throw RHP Mike King against Northwestern on Saturday. King is 2-0 on the season with a 1.32 ERA. Donovan Casey has a team-best 10 hits in six games played.
After beginning the season on a six-game losing streak, Butler (2-6) captured back-to-back victories over Charleston Southern (Feb. 28) and Marion (March 2) to get in the win column.
The Bulldogs will give Jeff Schank the ball when they take on Northwestern. Schank has recorded a pair of losses in his two outings this season and opponents are hitting .340 off of him.
Four Butler players are hitting above .400. Chris Marras leads the team with a .455 mark, while Tyler Houston and Connor Dall have accrued .438 and .421 batting averages, respectively. Chris Maranto rounds out the bunch with a .407 average.
Illinois State enters the weekend with a 2-5 overall record. The Redbirds will face Indiana and Ohio State this weekend before they play Northwestern on Sunday. The Wildcats will face Illinois State's David Meade on Sunday. Meade (0-1) has made two start this season and has tallied a 7.27 ERA in 8.2 innings of work.
LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern took two of four games last weekend in its series at Pacific. The Wildcats opened the weekend with a 3-1 victory on Friday night and closed the trip with a 14-5 win on Sunday.
Pacific swept Saturday's doubleheader, winning both games by a score of 7-3.
ACE IN THE HOLE
Northwestern is a perfect 2-0 against opposing team's Friday night starters this season. In the opener, the Wildcats faced the reigning Mountain West Pitcher of the Year in Christian Stolo and knocked him around for seven hits, two runs and a win. The team followed that up a week later by collecting six hits and three runs off Pacific's Will Lydon.
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
There is a bit of a youth movement for Northwestern early in the season. Freshman shortstop Jack Dunn is leading the team in hits (12) and batting average (.387), while classmate Willie Bourbon has a team-best seven RBIs.
On the mound, sophomore Tommy Bordignon has come out of the bullpen to pitch 8.1-scoreless innings and has only surrendered one hit in 28 batters faced. Bordignon earned a win in his first relief appearance (vs. Nevada, Feb. 19) and the save in his second appearance (at Pacific, Feb. 26).