Lincoln – Without a road win in league play this season, the Nebraska baseball team (31-16, 6-9 Big Ten) will look to break that streak this weekend with a three-game series in Evanston, Ill., against the Northwestern Wildcats (13-29, 4-11 Big Ten). The series kicks off at Rocky Miller Park on Friday afternoon at 3:05 p.m., while both Saturday andSunday’s games are both set for 1:05 p.m. starts.
Nebraska enters the weekend in seventh place in the Big Ten with a 6-9 record, including an 0-6 mark on the road. The Huskers have been swept at Maryland and at Iowa, with three of the games decided by one run. In Nebraska’s nine conference losses this season, four have come by one run and three have been extra-inning defeats.
Nebraska has only made one trip to Rocky Miller Park since joining the Big Ten and it didn’t end well. The Huskers took the series opener in 2012, but then dropped the final two games of the series. The Huskers bounced back with a three-game sweep in Lincoln in 2013, but the Wildcats took their second series from the Huskers in three years last season. Northwestern took the first two games of the series in Lincoln in 2014 before the Huskers avoided the sweep with a 10-9 win in the series finale.
The Wildcats sit 11th in the conference standings with a 4-11 mark, including a 0-3 home mark in the league after they were swept by Ohio State last weekend. Northwestern was scheduled to have played two league series at home already, but due to renovations at Rocky Miller Park, its Big Ten home opener against Illinois in early April was moved to the Illini’s home field in Champaign, Ill. The Wildcats played their first 37 games of the year away from home, as they didn’t play their first home game until April 21. Following a 5-4 win over Chicago State on Wednesday night in 10 innings, the Wildcats are 3-3 at home this season.
While the Huskers are in search of their first Big Ten road series win of the season, the Wildcats are looking for their second conference series win overall this year. After starting the season with a 2-1 series victory at Minnesota, the Wildcats have dropped four straight series to Illinois (0-3), Michigan State (1-2), Iowa (1-2) and Ohio State (0-3).