After winning two out of three games against St. John's to remain in second place in the Big East this weekend, the Notre Dame baseball team hosts Northwestern today at Eck Stadium.

The Irish offense, a question mark early in the season, has been pounding the ball as of late. Designated hitter Ken Meyer has has seen his bat come to life. Meyer has surpassed junior shortstop Alec Porzel for the highest batting average on the team.

Following eight hits in 13 weekend at-bats, Meyer is now batting .389.

In addition to Meyer's hot streak, Porzel, freshman right fielder Brian Stavisky and senior first baseman Jeff Felker have contributed to the offensive surge which saw the Irish score eight, four and nine runs in the last three games respectively.

"Hitters generally hit better in warm weather," head coach Paul Mainieri said.

Northwestern, 10th in the Big Ten, sports an 8-12 conference record. The team is led by junior catcher Joe Hietpas, who leads the Wildcats in batting average (.370), home runs (5), and runs batted in (41). Junior shortstop Jeremy Kurella also stands out for the men from Evanston. He is currently batting .339 while leading the Wildcats with four triples and 31 stolen bases.

While Notre Dame is still coming down from the excitement of Felker's walk-off home run, Northwestern is looking to get back into the win column after losing three of four games at Iowa last weekend.

After an 8-4 victory Friday night, the Hawkeyes swept the Wildcats in a Saturday doubleheader before the Wildcats picked up an 8-6 win Sunday.

The first pitch tonight is at 6:05 p.m. at Frank Eck Stadium. The game can also be heard on the Internet at www.und.com.

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