May 25, 2004

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern's No. 1 pitcher J.A. Happ (Peru, Ill./St. Bede Academy) earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors for his start at Michigan State last Friday afternoon. This is Happ's third conference honor of the season, and seventh of his career.

Happ concluded the regular season as he began it by claiming his third Big Ten Pitcher of the Week award after tossing a complete-game shutout in the series opener at Michigan State. The junior left hander allowed only five hits in nine innings for his third nine-inning complete game this season and second straight overall. He posted 10 strikeouts in the contest to tie for the league lead with 62 Ks in conference games only. Overall, he topped the Big Ten with a 2.68 ERA and 106 punchouts, the second-highest single-season total in Northwestern annals.

Happ is just the second Wildcat to ever strike out over 100 batters in a season, and it is just the third time in school history. Brad Neidermaier (1992-95) did it twice, striking out 105 in 1994 and a school record 109 in 1995.

In Happ's 14 starts this season, NU went 10-4. In his last three starts of the regular season, the Illinois native pitched three complete games, giving up four runs in 25.0 innings pitched. He gave up 16 hits and struck out 20 in those games, which included wins over Illinois (seven inning game), Ohio State and Michigan State.

Happ led the Big Ten for the second time in his career with a 2.68 ERA. As a freshman in 2002, Happ earned Collegiate Baseball honorable mention All-America honors, leading the league with a 2.10 ERA in 21 appearances.

Happ is seventh in career ERA (2.88) and fourth in career strikeouts (251), pitching 228.1 innings in his first three seasons. He needs just 38 punch-outs to tie Zach Schara (1999-02) atop the Wildcat K list.