Northwestern University Athletics
Big Ten-Leading Wildcats Set to Face Fighting Illini
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 24, 2009
Northwestern's Illinois Game Notes (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- With six games remaining in its Big Ten schedule, conference-leading Northwestern travels to Illinois this weekend for a pair of games before returning home to host No. 20 DePaul Tuesday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The No. 11 Wildcats face the Fighting Illini at 5 p.m. CT Saturday, April 25, before the two teams meet against at 2 p.m. CT Sunday, April 26. Both games will be broadcast live on NU student radio WNUR 89.3 FM and can be found online at sports.wnur.org.
Northwestern is tied on top of the Big Ten standings with Ohio State at 12-2. Michigan, which has played four fewer games, is equal with the Wildcats and Buckeyes in the loss column at 8-2 in league play. NU and OSU face off May 2-3 before OSU and U-M play in a doubleheader on May 6. The Wildcats swept the Wolverines during the opening weekend of conference play.
Illinois is in fifth place in the Big Ten with a 7-6 mark. Northwestern has won its last nine meetings with Illinois, last falling in a non-conference matchup in 2005 at the Stanford Classic.
Freshman Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) is the reigning Big Ten and Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week after batting .765 with 13 RBIs and five home runs in five games last week. She currently ranks in the top-10 in the nation in home runs per game, total home runs, RBIs per game and slugging percentage.
Senior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) had a landmark game in NU's last outing, a 6-4 win over Northern Illinois Wednesday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. Williams blasted two home runs to both tie and later break the Northwestern all-time home run record of 55 held by 2007 graduate Garland Cooper, finishing the day with 56 four-baggers in her career. Her 56th home run -- which places her second in Big Ten history -- also was the 300th base hit of her career.
Sophomore Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) paces NU with a .440 batting average in Big Ten play, leading a contingent of five Wildcats all batting better than .390 in Northwestern's 14 conference games. As a team, NU is batting .317 with a .599 slugging percentage in league games.
VOTE FOR TAMMY!
Senior Tammy Williams is one of 10 finalists for the 2009 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. Fan voting counts for 1/3 of the final tally, and fans can vote once per day until May 7. Visit www.seniorclassaward.com or text SB10 to 839863 on your mobile device.
