After a long week of finals, Nebraska makes their final road trip of the season to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. Nebraska has been off since last weekend when the Huskers dropped a home series against Illinois, while Northwestern is coming off a nice midweek win against Illinois State.
Northwestern currently sits at 11th place in the Big Ten at 6-9 in league play. The Wildcats are just one game out of a tie for eighth place with three different teams.
The Huskers meanwhile are tied for second with Indiana and remain 1.5 games behind Michigan for first place. The Huskers and Wolverines meet in Lincoln during the last week of the season.
Northwestern is lead by a trio of strong hitters. Jack Dunn is hitting .353 with 24 walks against only 20 strikeouts on the season. Alex Erro is leading the team with 14 extra base hits while batting a healthy .325. Jack Dunn’s younger brother David is hitting .306 as a freshman as well.
On the mound, Northwestern has had trouble finding a consistent rotation. Ryan Bader will get the start today while Mike Doherty gets the start of Sunday. Northwestern has not announced a starter for the series finale on Monday.
Bader was hit hard in the early part of the season. He has righted the ship and pitched six innings last weekend against Michigan State. Bader also shut down a Michigan offense that has been scorching hot, holding them to one unearned run in four innings.
Doherty was hit hard by Michigan State last weekend. He has made it through five innings just twice on the year, against Chicago State and San Jose State.
Look for the Northwestern bullpen to be active often this weekend.Nick Paciorek is the closer and the only member of the bullpen with an ERA under 3.50.
Nebraska (23-16, 12-6 Big Ten) at Northwestern (19-22, 6-9 Big Ten)
May 4-6, 2019
Rocky and Berenice Miller Park • Evanston, Ill.
Saturday, May 4 • 2 p.m. (CT)
Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Matt Waldron (5-1) vs. Ryan Bader (1-3)
Sunday, May 5 • 1 p.m. (CT)
Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Nate Fisher (4-2) vs. Mike Doherty (2-1)
Monday, May 6 • 3:30 p.m. (CT)
Video Stream: BTN Plus
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Reece Eddins (4-2) vs. TBA