Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Concludes Opening Sprint at DeMarini Invitational
3/2/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 2, 2011
Northwestern's DeMarini Invitational Game Notes Package (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern concludes four-consecutive weekends of travel to begin the 2011 season this weekend at the 11-team DeMarini Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton.
The Wildcats open the event against No. 11 California at 11 a.m. CT Friday before playing Southern Miss at 3:30 p.m. CT later in the day. On Saturday, NU takes on Cal State Northridge at 5:45 p.m. CT, then faces Oregon State for the second time this season at 8 p.m. CT. Getaway day features the first-ever meeting between NU and IPFW at 1:15 p.m. CT.
The college softball season is a sprint from the start, and nobody does it better than Northwestern. The Wildcats have traveled to Arizona or California for four-straight weekends to play in several of the sport's premier tournaments, and will face six ranked opponents before it's all said and done. NU is off March 11-13 for winter quarter finals before traveling to Palo Alto March 18-20 as part of its annual spring break trip.
Northwestern is making its sixth trip to the DeMarini Invitational (formerly the Worth Invitational) under 10th-year head coach Kate Drohan. The Wildcats are 14-8 all time at the event, including a 7-2 record over their last two appearances (2007 and 2010).
Sophomore Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) has continued her torrid start to the season, currently leading the Big Ten with a .571 batting average and 13 stolen bases. She was named the conference's Player of the Week on Monday after batting at a .588 clip with six steals in five games at the Cathedral City Classic.
Junior Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) also had a strong tournament last week, batting .385 with three home runs to earn a 1.077 slugging percentage. She also walked six times to give her a .600 on-base percentage at the event.
In the circle, Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) continued her perfect start to the season with two more wins last week, pushing her record to a perfect 6-0 so far this year.
Countdown to the Grand: Northwestern enters this weekend nine wins away from the 1,000th win in program history.
For Northwestern's complete DeMarini Invitational game notes package, download the .pdf file at the top of this page.
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