Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Open Home Season Against UIC Wednesday
4/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 2, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. - After 27 games on the road to open 2003, the Wildcats get their home season underway at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Drysdale Field. Following four road losses to open the Big Ten season, Northwestern ventures outside of the conference to take on Illinois-Chicago. NU holds a 25-11 series lead over the Flames. Ohio State makes the trek to Evanston for single games against the 'Cats at 3 p.m. Friday and noon on Saturday. The Wildcats hold a 50-23 all-time advantage against the Buckeyes. Northwestern closes out the busy home week with a noon doubleheader Sunday against Penn State, a team they hold a 26-10 series lead against.
Last Time Out
NU opened its busy week with four straight wins, but closed with four consecutive losses. The Wildcats opened with a convincing 9-1 win in six innings at Bradley Monday. Cindy Muran hit her second home run of the year and drove in four runs. The 'Cats followed with a 2-0 victory at Illinois State Tuesday. Ashley Crane had two hits and Brie Brown pitched six shutout innings to pick up the win. Northwestern swept a doubleheader at Notre Dame Wednesday, winning the opening game 4-2 and the nightcap 3-2. Jamie Dotson hit a game-winning solo home run in the top of the sixth inning in the second game. Michigan State snapped the Wildcats' four-game win streak in Big Ten openers Friday, defeating NU 3-0 despite three hits by Erin Mobley. The 'Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Saturday, but couldn't hold on as the Spartans rallied for a 6-3 victory. No. 15 Michigan was pushed to extra innings in both games of its doubleheader with Northwestern Sunday, but managed to pull out a pair of wins. The Wolverines defeated the Wildcats 6-5 in nine innings in game one and then completed the sweep with a 3-1 eight-inning win in the second game. Brett Nakabayashi led NU with three hits in the twinbill.
Scouting Illinois-Chicago
The Flames have lost six of their last seven games, including two of three at Loyola-Chicago last weekend. Offense has been a struggle for UIC, as it sports a team batting average of .217 and has scored two runs or less in 24 of its 33 games, including its last seven. Nicole Shepard leads the Flames with a .324 batting average. Amanda Rivera has hit a team-high four home runs and ranks second with a .286 average and 13 RBI. Opponents are hitting .312 against UIC pitchers.
Scouting Ohio State
The Buckeyes opened the Big Ten season last weekend with two victories at Indiana. Kristine Himes has been named Big Ten Player of the Week twice this season and is batting .346 with a team-leading eight home runs and 27 RBI. Karisa Evans leads the Buckeyes with a .403 batting average. Katie Chain has earned a Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor and has a 7-5 record with a 1.20 ERA. She has struck out 102 batters in 81.1 innings pitched. OSU has defeated three top 10 opponents-California, Cal State Fullerton and DePaul.
Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions split their first two games of the Big Ten season last weekend at home against Purdue, falling 5-1 Friday before bouncing back with a 6-5 Saturday. Mandy Nuxoll leads PSU with a .384 batting average, while Kelly Galigher is hitting .347 with a team-high 22 RBI. Overall, the Nittany Lions boast three regulars that are batting .333 or better. Marisa Hanson has a 0.90 ERA to go along with a 9-6 record. PSU has won eight of its last 10 games.
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.
'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 first top 25 appearance in a national poll since 1995. The 'Cats have also received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, reaching a ranking as high as 27th.
Battle For Bragging Rights
Northwestern hasn't officially participated in a state tournament since the 1981 season, but this year the Wildcats will come quite close. NU has games scheduled against seven other schools from within the state of Illinois. The 'Cats enter the week 2-0 in the battle for the Land of Lincoln, having defeated Bradley 9-1 and Illinois State 2-0. In addition to its game against Illinois-Chicago Wednesday, Northwestern will also take on Northern Illinois, DePaul, Illinois and Loyola-Chicago.
Gobs of Hits For Mobs
Erin Mobley wasn't exactly struggling at the plate heading into NU's eight-game road trip last week, as she entered the stretch with a .317 batting average. But the sophomore right fielder took her game to another level over the seven-day span. She recorded a team-high 11 hits in 23 at-bats for a sizzling .478 average. Mobley's hot streak raised her season average 43 points to .360 entering play Wednesday. She also leads the team with a .512 slugging percentage.
Taking the Fight Out of the Irish
It isn't very often that Notre Dame loses on its home field. It's even more rare that the Irish get swept in a doubleheader at Ivy Field. By virtue of its 4-2 and 3-2 wins in South Bend, Ind. on March 26, Northwestern became the first team to come into Notre Dame and sweep a twinbill from the Irish in 40 opportunities. Purdue was the last team to accomplish the feat on April 8, 1998.
Early and Often
The Wildcats have been extremely effective in jumping out to early leads this season. In the first two innings combined, Northwestern has outscored its opponents 34-11 in 2003. The 'Cats have allowed just three runs in the second inning all season. The Wildcats' most productive inning is the sixth, having scored 24 runs.
Bringing the Heat
Pitcher Courtnay Foster is on pace to be along side some pretty elite company in NU history. The freshman has struck out 115 batters in 92.1 innings pitched for an average of 8.72 per game. The mark is currently the third highest in school history. Northwestern Hall-of-Famer and All-American Lisa Ishikawa holds the record of 10.80 set in 1984.
'Cats on the Internet This Week
WNUR, Northwestern's student radio station, will broadcast four of the Wildcats' five home games this week. Fans can listen to the broadcast two different ways-by tuning their radios to 89.3 FM in the Evanston area, or via the internet at http://sports.wnur.org. WNUR will air the team's games on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Tough Road Ahead
The Wildcats face a challenging schedule in 2003. Northwestern will encounter at least 12 different opponents and 19 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 plays host to Northern Illinois at 3 p.m. next Wednesday before hitting the road for Big Ten play. The Wildcats travel to Indiana for single games on Friday and Saturday and then head to Purdue for a Sunday doubleheader.
