May 19, 2003

2003 Big Ten Tournament Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -

#5 Northwestern (25-23, 15-14 Big Ten)
vs. #4 Penn State (26-26, 17-15 Big Ten)

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 21-Saturday, May 25
Series: NU leads 28-20
Site: Siebert Field (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Capacity: 1,100
Radio: WNUR (89.3 FM)-all games
Internet: NUsports.com (Gametracker)

Postseason Appearances
By finishing 15-14 in the conference, NU qualified for the postseason tournament for the third time in four years and the sixth time since the tournament was introduced in 1981 ... Four of NU's six appearances in the Big Ten Tournament, including the last three, have occurred in Minneapolis (1984, 2000, 2002, 2003); the other two took place at Ohio State (1991, 1995) ... This year's senior class is the first in school history to make more than two postseason tournament appearances; the 'Cats also qualified in 2000 and 2002 ... NU holds a 6-10 record in Big Ten Tournament history ... Paul Stevens is 3-8 all-time at the Big Ten Tournament with two of those wins last year ... The Wildcats' best finish was 1984, when they finished second to Michigan in the tournament hosted by Minnesota ... NU never has faced Penn State in tournament action.

For the second straight season, Northwestern travels to Minneapolis, Minn. to take part in the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, hosted by the University of Minnesota. The Gophers won their second-straight regular-season title with a 24-6 conference record. Unlike last season, NU did not wait until the final weekend to qualify for the postseason event. NU learned on the Monday before the final conference weekend that it would compete in the championship, when Indiana swept a doubleheader from Purdue, mathematically placing the Wildcats in the tournament.

The 2003 trip is just the sixth trip to a postseason event in the school's history, and third in the last four years. Five of the six trips have come under the direction of head coach Paul Stevens. Stevens is in his 16th season at the helm and is the school's all-time wins leader with 422. Stevens is 3-8 in tournament action as the Wildcat program is 6-10 overall.

After running through the Big Ten season in 2002 with 55 errors, the Wildcat defense is drastically improved, totaling just 34 errors in conference play. In fact, NU had just eight more overall errors, ending the regular season with 63 miscues, compared to 95 a season ago.

What comes with better defense? Lower ERA's. As a team, NU lowered its ERA from 4.50 in 2002 to 3.83 this season. Four different Wildcat hurlers had ERA's over 10 last season; in 2003, none. NU's overall mark of 3.83 finished second to Ohio State's 3.70. The Wildcats' conference ERA of 3.61 was tops among the league, as Minnesota finished second with a 4.00 earned-run average.

Junior Dan Konecny and sophomore J.A. Happ were the go-to guys on the hill this season. Happ ended the regular season with a 7-5 record, but Konecny won the ERA battle. In 83.0 innings pitched, Konecny finished first for Northwestern and third in the conference with a 2.93 ERA. Happ was a close second (fourth in the Big Ten) at 3.20.

While Konecny and Happ were mowing down hitters, junior David Gresky and Jon Mikrut were doing just the opposite. Gresky ended the season with a team-leading .326 average, just one hit better than Mikrut's .320. Each hitter had 172 at-bats with Gresky having one more hit than Mikrut (56-to-55). Gresky showed some power numbers this year, knocking nine home runs and driving in 43. Gresky's nine long balls is the most by a Wildcat since Joe Hietpas hit 11 in 1999.

Not to be outdone is freshman Anthony Wycklendt. In only 52 at-bats, Wycklendt drove in 23, the third highest total on the team and finished the season with a .442 batting average. In one game, he tied the NCAA's third-highest single-game hit total, going 7-for-8 with nine RBI. He hit for the cycle in that game, becoming the first Wildcat to do so, since Mark Loretta in the early 1990's. Eight of his 23 season hits are for extra bases. He finished second on the team with six home runs.

Break Out The Brooms
Earlier this season, NU swept a conference series from Illinois. The four-game conference sweep was the Wildcats' first conference sweep since they won four at Iowa in 1998. It also marked the first time since 1984 that NU swept the Fighting Illini, and the first time a Paul Stevens-coached team had accomplished the feat.

From the Left Side
NU's left-handed duo of J.A. Happ and Dan Brauer have a combined record of 12-8 so far in 2003. Happ has thrown considerably more innings than the younger Brauer (78.2 to 54.0) and still holds a slight advantage in the team ERA race (3.20 to 3.50). The two have combined for 135 strikeouts, 61 walks and nine complete games. Happ holds the advantage in complete games (6) and strikeouts (91).

Sir Save-A-Lot
Sophomore Jon Mikrut saved his fifth game of 2003 in NU's regular-season finale at Indiana. It was his team-leading 15th appearance of the year. Mikrut now has 11 career saves in 24 appearances on the mound.

And The Winner Is...
NU finished the season 25-23 overall. the first time NU has finished the regular season with a winning record since 2000 (30-27).

Trend Setters
This year's senior class (Brandon Ackley, Frank Favia, Ken Padgett, Eric Roeder, Travis Tharp) is the first graduating class to participate in three conference tournaments in their four-year tenures.

At Penn State
When NU traveled to State College to take on the Nittany Lions at Beaver Field, they didn't expect to run into the buzz saw of Lion pitching that it did. The Lion hurlers held the Wildcat hitters to a .246 average, ending the weekend with a 2.48 ERA in 34.0 innings pitched. NU drove in only nine runs over the four-game series, compared to 18 for Penn State, and even though NU had 11 extra-base hits, compared to seven for PSU, the total-hit tally ended in a tie, 32-32. Penn State outscored NU 22-10 for the weekend, winning three of the four games.

Series History vs. PSU
With a 1-3 series this season, NU leads the series with Penn State 28-20. In the last four years NU is 9-7, winning 3-of-4 games in 2002 and 2001 and splitting in 2000. Holstering the Big Guns When NU and PSU met this season, NU's top two RBI producers, David Gresky (43) and Jon Mikrut (29), were held to a total of three RBI all weekend. Even though they each hit .400 (6-for-15) in the four-game series, the Nittany Lion pitchers did a good job of not allowing the leadoff runners to reach base.

Down Goes...
Since giving up three runs on three hits in one inning in his collegiate debut at South Alabama on Feb. 22, freshman Julio Siberio has lowered his ERA more than 22 points from 27.00 to 4.15. Since that initial outing, Siberio has giving up five hits and two runs in five appearances, totaling 7.2 innings. Those numbers include his latest outing against Chicago State when he went two and two-third innings, giving up only one hit

Sac Up
Junior Josh Lieberman has five sacrifice hits this season. For his career, Lieberman needs one more sac bunt to enter the top five of Northwestern's career sacrifice hits list with 15. Currently occupying the No. 5 spot is Al Quintana (1983-86) and John Stewart (1983-86). The single season record for sacrifice hits in one season is 11, set by Steve Geffner in 1995.

Hoover
Shortstop Jon Mikrut has made 13 errors this season. Six of those miscues came in NU's first 11 games, which were played on the road at neutral sites. Since then, the Illinois native has committed seven errors (four throwing) while recording 134 assists and 71 putouts.

The Century Mark
Sophomore Jon Mikrut has started every game at shortstop this season (48 games) and all 102 games he has played in his young collegiate career. Last Friday's game at Indiana was his 100th start in a Wildcat uniform.

Double Trouble
Junior David Gresky has hit 42 doubles in his career, including 13 this season. While the single season record for doubles might be out of reach (21, set in 1977 by Kent McQuire), the career record for two-baggers is 56. Gresky needs one more to join Joe Perona (1988-91) and Chris Beacom (1986-89) at No. 4 on Northwestern's all-time doubles list.

Record Tying
NU finished 15-14 in conference play this season. The 15 wins tie a Northwestern single-season, conference-win mark. The feat has been accomplished four other times, all in the Paul Stevens coaching era (15-13 in 1989, 15-12 in 1991, 15-13 in 1993, 15-13 in 1995).

Winning Record
The 15-win season also marks the first time since 1995 the Wildcats have finished the conference regular season with a winning record (15-13).

No. 400
Head coach Paul Stevens won his 400th game on Feb. 22 when the Wildcats defeated Southern Mississippi 5-3 in Mobile, Ala.; Southern Miss is currently ranked 17th by Baseball America. Stevens is NU's career leader in wins with 422 wins.

Earning the Nod
Freshman Anthony Wycklendt has made the most of his opportunities this season. In just 52 at-bats, the Wisconsin native has 23 RBI and six home runs. That equals out to a home run every 8.7 at-bats. He has scored 16 runs, and eight of his 23 hits are for extra bases. Wycklendt is hitting .355 in Big Ten games, having 11 hits in 31 at-bats. Three of those 11 hits are home runs.

52-Card Pickup
Northwestern hitters have been hit 52 times this season. On the other side, Northwestern pitchers have hit just 16 opposing batters. Freshman right-hander Mark Ori leads the 2003 squad with one-fourth of the damage, as the Illinois native has plunked four opposing hitters this season.

The Kings of ERA
NU finished the regular season with a 3.61 Big Ten ERA, tops among Big Ten teams. Junior right-hander Dan Konecny led the squad with a 2.96 ERA in seven starts (45.2 innings). Sophomore J.A. Happ finished with a 3.38 earned-run average, followed by freshmen Dan Brauer (4.01) and Mark Ori (4.86).

Deep Threat
Junior David Gresky has led the 2003 squad with nine home runs, the most by any Wildcat since Joe Hietpas had 11 in 1999. Gresky's previous season high was three last season.

Jack of All Trades
Sophomore Chris Hayes has been asked to do just about everything there is on a baseball field this season. The Illinois native has pitched (0.84 ERA in eight appearances), caught (one start), and played third base and shortstop. He's also seen some time in the outfield. While playing mostly a backup role (only six starts in 26 games played), Hayes has a .357 average (10-for-28).

Neutral Sites
So far this season, the Wildcats have played in 15 neutral site games, compiling a 9-6 record. Four of those contests were against Ohio State to start the Big Ten season in Bradenton, Fla. The teams split the four-game series.

Gopher Hunting
Due to conference scheduling, NU and Minnesota did not meet in the regular season this year. The last time the teams met was at last year's Big Ten Tournament, where they split a pair of games. NU defeated Minnesota 5-2 in the second-round game before falling to the Gophers in the semifinal round, 11-5.