Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Host Key Weekend Set
4/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 17, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - With only eight games remaining in the Big Ten softball season, the race is on to pursue berths in the Big Ten Tournament. Northwestern can go a long way in positioning itself for a conference tournament appearance this weekend as it hosts two games apiece against Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Wildcats and Badgers open up play at 3 p.m. Friday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The 'Cats and Wisconsin will meet again at noon Saturday, before Northwestern faces off against the Golden Gophers in a doubleheader beginning at noon Sunday. At 6-6 in the Big Ten, NU is currently tied for sixth place with 4-4 Penn State. The top six teams during the regular season reach the Big Ten Tournament.
The 'Cats hold a 10-6 edge in their series with the Badgers, but Wisconsin has won the last five meetings including both games in Madison last season, 2-1 and 3-2. The Gophers hold a slim 36-35 series lead against the Wildcats. NU won the only meeting with Minnesota a year ago in Minneapolis, 4-1.
Scouting Wisconsin
The Badgers (13-30, 2-8 Big Ten, eighth) are coming off a weekend that saw them drop two games apiece to Michigan and Michigan State. Wisconsin didn't allow more than four runs in any of the contests, but scored only two total runs of its own in the four games. Senior Andrea Kirchberg has carried the load for the Badgers, striking out a Big Ten-leading 224 batters in 169 innings. She sports an ERA of only 1.24, but has just an 11-14 record to show for it. Boo Gillette is hitting .275 this season, the only Badger batting over .230.
Scouting Minnesota
Piper Marten and Angie Recknor have combined to provide a solid 1-2 punch on the pitching mound for the Gophers (30-13-1, 6-4 Big Ten, fifth) this season. Recknor is 13-5 with a 1.13 ERA, while Marten is 14-8 with a 1.55 ERA and has earned a Big Ten Pitcher-of-the-Week honor this season. Marten has struck out 216 batters in just 148.2 innings. Senior Jordanne Nygren has provided the punch at the plate, batting .383 with a conference-leading 13 home runs. Minnesota dropped two games to Michigan Sunday after taking sweeping a two-game series with Michigan State.
Head Coach Kate Drohan
Kate Drohan is in her second season as the head coach of the Wildcats. In her first season at the helm, Drohan led Northwestern to a 24-18-1 record and a 10-9 mark in the Big Ten. It was NU's fifth consecutive season with 20 or more victories. The team finished tied for fifth in the conference, and missed out on a berth in the Big Ten Tournament due to a lost tiebreaker. Prior to becoming head coach, Drohan served as an assistant under longtime coach Sharon Drysdale for four seasons. Assistant coaches Alicia Smith and Caryl Drohan, Kate's twin sister, are in their third and second seasons with NU, respectively.
Did You Know?
* When Erin Mobley struck out in her first at-bat of the second game against Purdue Sunday, it was the first time she struck out in 53 plate appearances. The streak spanned 15 games.
* The Wildcats have allowed only six runs in the second inning of games this season. NU is outscoring its opponents in the first two innings a combined 45-18. The 'Cats' most productive inning is the sixth, having scored 34 times.
* Pinch hitters are just 2-for-19 (.105) against NU pitching.
* Courtnay Foster's average of 9.20 strikeouts per 7 innings is the second-highest single-season mark in school history. Lisa Ishikawa holds the record of 10.80 set in 1984, her freshman season.
* Last weekend, Brett Nakabayshi became the fourth player in NU history to pass the 100 career runs scored mark.
* Kristen Amegin is 3-for-4 with a walk and five RBI when batting with the bases loaded.
Leto Selected For U.S. National Team Tryouts
Junior second baseman Carri Leto has been named one of 45 players nationwide selected to tryout for the U.S. National Team this summer. Leto was the only member of a Big Ten team picked to tryout. The selection team camp will be held June 4-8 at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Following tryouts, two teams will be selected to compete internationally-the U.S. National Team and a USA Softball Elite team. The National team will represent the United States at the U.S. Cup in Hawaii, the Canada Cup in British Columbia and at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic. The Elite team will compete in the Canada Cup, as well as the Japan Cup in Yokohama, Japan. Last summer, Leto competed for Team Smith, an elite traveling team that participated in the Canada Cup. Leto was a second-team All-Big Ten selection as a sophomore and a first-team NFCA All-Mideast Region as a freshman.
'Cats Earn Recognition in National Polls
Northwestern has been ranked as high as 22nd in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll this season. This season represents NU's first top 25 appearance in a national poll since 1995. The Wildcats are ranked 29th in the poll this week. NU has also received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, reaching a ranking as high as 27th.
Nakabayashi Earns NU Honor
Senior left fielder Brett Nakabayashi was named the Northwestern Hilton Garden Inn Athlete of the Week for the April 7-13 period. Nakabayashi posted a .615 batting average (8-for-13) as NU went 3-1 last week. She hit safely in all four games, including three multi-hit games, running her hitting streak to six. Saturday afternoon at Indiana, Nakabayashi went 3-for-3 as the 'Cats defeated the Hoosiers 2-1. In Sunday afternoon's 1-0 win over Purdue in the opening game of a doubleheader, she had two hits and made a run-saving diving catch to preserve the shutout. Nakabayashi added two hits in the nightcap.
Tough Road Ahead
The Wildcats have faced one of the most challenging schedules in the country this season. NU will encounter at least 13 different opponents and 20 total games against teams that are ranked in the top 25 or are receiving votes in the NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. Included on the schedule are five of the top 10 ranked teams in the current poll.
Team Captains
Seniors Lauren Schwendimann and Jessie Wellnitz and junior Carri Leto are the team captains for the 2003 season. Schwendimann, a pitcher, earned second-team NFCA All-Region honors in 2002 as a utility player. Wellnitz appeared in 37 games in the outfield last season without committing an error. Leto earned second-team All-Big Ten honors at shortstop for the Wildcats last season.
Next Time Out
Northwestern will travel to Loyola-Chicago at 3 p.m. Wednesday for a doubleheader. The Wildcats then return to Big Ten play next Friday and Saturday for single games at Iowa. Friday's game is scheduled for 3 p.m., while Saturday's game begins at noon.
