Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Begin Big Ten at Iowa, Illinois
4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 1, 2004
Weekly Release
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- After opening the season with 22 consecutive games on the road, the final eight featuring NU as the away team on the scoreboard, Northwestern finally opened its home schedule Tuesday against UIC. No rest for the weary, though, as the 'Cats embark on their second-longest roadie of the season to open the Big Ten schedule. The Wildcats (15-8) will play two games each at Iowa and at Illinois before a contest at Northern Illinois to conclude the trip.
Junior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) continues to be NU's leader at the plate with a .406 average. Freshman Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita) paces the 'Cats' production with a .609 slugging percentage, 17 RBIs, seven doubles and four home runs. Freshman Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) boasts Northwestern's best record in the circle (8-2) while sophomore Courtnay Foster (Tuscon, Ariz./Sahuaro) has whiffed 114 batters in 84.2 innings of work.
"I think our nonconference schedule did what we wanted it to, and that is prepare us for the Big Ten season," NU head coach Kate Drohan said. "We are more advanced this year than we were last season at this point."
Iowa comes into its Big Ten opener with an 18-15 record. Sophomore Kylie Murray leads the Hawkeyes with a .324 average and nine doubles, but senior Amanda Hentges has hit .429 with nine RBIs, a .657 slugging percentage and a 1.086 OPS since March 17. Junior pitcher Lisa Borroci had a good first half of the season, striking out 147 batters with a .137 average against. Head coach Gayle Blevins is only 11 wins away from her 1,000th career victory.
Illinois begins the Big Ten season having played a very tough schedule, just like NU. The Illini have faced 11 opponents in the top 25 so far this year and currently have a 21-11-1 record. Jenna Hall leads Illinois with a .351 batting average, 21 RBIs and three home runs.
NIU's record is 10-18, 2-1 in the MAC. Kelly Drozd leads the Huskies with a .306 average.
Northwestern's first game of the road trip begins at 6 p.m. in Iowa City, Iowa, against the Hawkeyes.
