Northwestern University Athletics
Play Ball! Softball Opens 2002 Campaign This Weekend
1/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Jan. 31, 2002
Evanston, Ill. - As the first major snowstorm of the season was hitting the Chicagoland area on Wednesday evening, the Northwestern softball team was on a plane heading to Tampa, Fla., to open up its season at the Louisville Slugger Tournament hosted by South Florida.
NU is led by first-year head coach Kate Drohan. The Wildcats return every starter from last season and 15 letterwinners overall. They will use this experience to try and improve on last years 20-25 record and eighth-place finish in the Big Ten.
For the third year in a row, NU's first game will come against Florida Atlantic. The Owls return 11 letterwinners and eight starters from last year's squad that advanced to the NCAA Regional tournament for the third consecutive season. FAU also has won five straight Trans-America Athletic Conference championship. Senior Nicole Myers led the Owls last season in both hitting (.376 avg., 19 HR) and pitching (42 app., 0.57 ERA).
FAU, who received votes in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association preseason top 25, leads the all-time series against NU, 5-1. The Wildcats' only victory came during the 1999 season when they downed the Owls, 5-0. Last year, FAU handed NU a 5-1 loss to open the season.
"Florida Atlantic will come at us with experienced pitching and aggressive bats," said Coach Drohan on her team's first opponent of the 2002 season.
Host South Florida is on NU's slate later Friday afternoon. USF returns 13 letterwinners, but lost a handful of starters from last year's 43-34 squad. The 'Cats may have the upper hand in this matchup, as the game will be the Bulls' first of the season, while NU will have the opportunity to shake out any first-game jitters that morning.
NU and USF have meet five times with the 'Cats holding a slight 3-2 advantage. In last year's showdown, Rane Gunderson (Minnetonka, Minn,/Minnetonka) knocked in Stacey Austin on a sacrifice fly to edge the Bulls 2-1 in nine innings.
"Ranked 25th by the NFCA, South Florida looks to be our toughest competition at the tournament," said Drohan. "They are extremely well coached and always very fundamentally sound."
The 'Cats final round-robin opponent of the weekend is Tennessee-the two teams will meet Saturday at 11 a.m. EST. It will only be the third meeting between the 'Cats and Lady Vols, and the first since the 2000 season. Each team owns one win in the series.
Tennessee also returns 13 letterwinners and five starters. The Lady Vols are coached by first-year co-head coaches Ralph and Karen Weekly.
"Tennessee is very athletic and starts the season with new head coaches," said Drohan. "I am looking forward to seeing how their style has changed."
The final two games of the tournament will be decided based upon the outcome of round-robin play. The entire tournament schedule is listed below.
"This weekend will be a challenging test for us right from the start," said Drohan. "I think we need to set the tone right away and put the pressure on the other teams with some big hits and aggressive baserunning. From the looks of the weather, we are getting out of town at a perfect time."
Friday, Feb. 1 (all times Eastern Standard)
11:00 a.m.FAU vs. Northwestern
1:30 p.m. FAU vs. Tennessee
3:30 p.m. USF vs. Northwestern
5:30 p.m. USF vs. Tennessee
Saturday, Feb. 2
11:00 a.m. Northwestern vs. Tennessee
1:00 p.m. USF vs. Florida Atlantic
3:30 p.m. 1seed vs. 4seed
5:30 p.m. 2seed vs. 3seed
Sunday, Feb. 3
11:00 a.m. Losers of seeded contests
1:00 p.m. Winners of seeded contests
