Friday, March 2
Minneapolis, MN
1:00 PM
University of Washington
vs
Michigan State
Huskies Face Big Ten Teams At Site Of Super Bowl LII
February 28, 2018 | Baseball
SEATTLE - Washington (4-3) hits the road this weekend for the Pac-12/Big Ten Dairy Queen Baseball Classic to be held at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. The Stadium was recently the host for Super Bowl LII in which the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the New England Patriots.Β
First up, the Huskies will play Michigan State on Friday at 1:00 p.m. PT. On Saturday, the Diamond Dawgs will take on host Minnesota in the primetime game, 5:00 p.m. PT. The DawgsΒ wrap up their stay in Minneapolis with a get-away game versus Illinois, starting around 12:00 p.m. PT. Besides Washington, also representing the Pac-12 are UCLA and Arizona. Β
It marks the 31st year of the DQ Classic and the third time the Huskies have participated in the tourney (also 2009 and 1997).
Constant game updates will be tweeted @UW_Baseball and fans can find all links at GoHuskies.com. Β We will also try to stream UW games on Facebook Live, so fans can follow at Facebook.com/UWHuskyBaseball.
The Huskies return home next week for a single game on Tuesday against Seattle U, followed by four games against Illinois State, Friday through Monday. The game against the Redhawks on Tuesday, March 6, at Husky Ballpark marks the return of the popular DOLLAR DOG NIGHT, where hot dogs are $1 each.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN STATE
Washington and Michigan State have played each other three times previously with the Huskies holding a slight 2-1 head-to-head advantage. The two teams played twice in 1992 and a single game in 2014. Coincidently, the Huskies would go on to play in the NCAA post-season in both those years. In 1992, the Spartans won an offensive Feb. 22 battle, 13-12, but the Huskies turned around the next day and won 12-7 to capture the Team Casa Collegiate Classic in El Paso, Texas. The last time the two teams met was in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge on Feb. 23, 2014 in Arizona. The Huskies won that game 4-1. UW scored all four runs in the first two innings and pitcher Jeff Brigham allowed two hits over seven innings to get the win.Β
SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA
The Huskies and Golden Gophers have met eight times previously and each team has won four times. The last time the two teams met was in 2009 at the Dairy Queen Classic that was held in the Metrodome. The Huskies rallied from a 5-0 deficit, but lost 6-5 on a bases loaded walk in the 10th inning. In 2003 the teams played twice at the Long Beach State Regional and the Huskies won both of those contests, 5-2 and 4-1, to eliminate the Gophers. The teams met in San Diego in 1998 (L, 15-9) and at Minnesota in 1997 (W, 9-1) as part of the Dairy Queen Classic. UW and Minnesota first met on the diamond at the San Jose State Classic in 1990. The team played three times that year with the Gophers winning 2 of 3 of the meetings.Β
SERIES HISTORY VS. ILLINOIS
Illinois holds the all-time series advantage, 2-1. The first time the two teams met was on March 9, 1991 at the Aggie Continental Classic in College Station, Texas. The Illini won that contest, 4-2. UW would get its revenge three days later beating Illinois, 8-1, in the final game of the tournament. The last time the two teams met was Feb. 24, 2001 at the Illini Desert Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Huskies dropped that game, 10-9, in 12 innings.
NOTEWORTHY:Β
β’ Last week the Huskies took two-of-three from UC Riverside, highlighted by a 84-pitch perfect game by junior Joe DeMers in game one of a Saturday doubleheader. DeMers struck out a career-high tying nine batters, reached a three-ball count just once and threw over 10 pitches three times with a high of 13. It was the first perfect game by a UW pitcher and fifth ever in Pac-12 history. It was the ninth no hitter in Washington history, the first since Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone threw a combined no-no in 2006 vs. Santa Clara.
β’ Washington is 18-18-1 against teams that make up the current Big Ten Conference. Take out Wisconsin that no longer plays baseball, and the Huskies are 17-17-1. The four teams the Huskies have not faced in the Big Ten are Iowa, Maryland, Purdue and Rutgers.
β’ The next win by the Huskies will be the 850th in head coach Lindsay Meggs' 25-year coaching career. He is in his ninth season at Washington and enters the week with a 232-215-1 record with the Huskies. Previously, Meggs was 77-79 in three years at Indiana State and 538-228-4 in 13 years at Chico State.Β
β’ AJ Graffanino is the only Husky to have a hit in all seven games this season. Dating back to 2017, he has a 10-game hit streak.
β’ UW's leading returning hitter from 2017 Willie MacIver broke the hamate bone in his hand and will be out 4-6 weeks. He is ranked as D1Baseball.com's No. 94-ranked prospect for the 2018 MLB Draft.
Β
First up, the Huskies will play Michigan State on Friday at 1:00 p.m. PT. On Saturday, the Diamond Dawgs will take on host Minnesota in the primetime game, 5:00 p.m. PT. The DawgsΒ wrap up their stay in Minneapolis with a get-away game versus Illinois, starting around 12:00 p.m. PT. Besides Washington, also representing the Pac-12 are UCLA and Arizona. Β
It marks the 31st year of the DQ Classic and the third time the Huskies have participated in the tourney (also 2009 and 1997).
Constant game updates will be tweeted @UW_Baseball and fans can find all links at GoHuskies.com. Β We will also try to stream UW games on Facebook Live, so fans can follow at Facebook.com/UWHuskyBaseball.
The Huskies return home next week for a single game on Tuesday against Seattle U, followed by four games against Illinois State, Friday through Monday. The game against the Redhawks on Tuesday, March 6, at Husky Ballpark marks the return of the popular DOLLAR DOG NIGHT, where hot dogs are $1 each.
SERIES HISTORY VS. MICHIGAN STATE
Washington and Michigan State have played each other three times previously with the Huskies holding a slight 2-1 head-to-head advantage. The two teams played twice in 1992 and a single game in 2014. Coincidently, the Huskies would go on to play in the NCAA post-season in both those years. In 1992, the Spartans won an offensive Feb. 22 battle, 13-12, but the Huskies turned around the next day and won 12-7 to capture the Team Casa Collegiate Classic in El Paso, Texas. The last time the two teams met was in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge on Feb. 23, 2014 in Arizona. The Huskies won that game 4-1. UW scored all four runs in the first two innings and pitcher Jeff Brigham allowed two hits over seven innings to get the win.Β
SERIES HISTORY VS. MINNESOTA
The Huskies and Golden Gophers have met eight times previously and each team has won four times. The last time the two teams met was in 2009 at the Dairy Queen Classic that was held in the Metrodome. The Huskies rallied from a 5-0 deficit, but lost 6-5 on a bases loaded walk in the 10th inning. In 2003 the teams played twice at the Long Beach State Regional and the Huskies won both of those contests, 5-2 and 4-1, to eliminate the Gophers. The teams met in San Diego in 1998 (L, 15-9) and at Minnesota in 1997 (W, 9-1) as part of the Dairy Queen Classic. UW and Minnesota first met on the diamond at the San Jose State Classic in 1990. The team played three times that year with the Gophers winning 2 of 3 of the meetings.Β
SERIES HISTORY VS. ILLINOIS
Illinois holds the all-time series advantage, 2-1. The first time the two teams met was on March 9, 1991 at the Aggie Continental Classic in College Station, Texas. The Illini won that contest, 4-2. UW would get its revenge three days later beating Illinois, 8-1, in the final game of the tournament. The last time the two teams met was Feb. 24, 2001 at the Illini Desert Classic in Tucson, Ariz. The Huskies dropped that game, 10-9, in 12 innings.
NOTEWORTHY:Β
β’ Last week the Huskies took two-of-three from UC Riverside, highlighted by a 84-pitch perfect game by junior Joe DeMers in game one of a Saturday doubleheader. DeMers struck out a career-high tying nine batters, reached a three-ball count just once and threw over 10 pitches three times with a high of 13. It was the first perfect game by a UW pitcher and fifth ever in Pac-12 history. It was the ninth no hitter in Washington history, the first since Tim Lincecum and Nick Hagadone threw a combined no-no in 2006 vs. Santa Clara.
β’ Washington is 18-18-1 against teams that make up the current Big Ten Conference. Take out Wisconsin that no longer plays baseball, and the Huskies are 17-17-1. The four teams the Huskies have not faced in the Big Ten are Iowa, Maryland, Purdue and Rutgers.
β’ The next win by the Huskies will be the 850th in head coach Lindsay Meggs' 25-year coaching career. He is in his ninth season at Washington and enters the week with a 232-215-1 record with the Huskies. Previously, Meggs was 77-79 in three years at Indiana State and 538-228-4 in 13 years at Chico State.Β
β’ AJ Graffanino is the only Husky to have a hit in all seven games this season. Dating back to 2017, he has a 10-game hit streak.
β’ UW's leading returning hitter from 2017 Willie MacIver broke the hamate bone in his hand and will be out 4-6 weeks. He is ranked as D1Baseball.com's No. 94-ranked prospect for the 2018 MLB Draft.
Β
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