Northwestern University Athletics
UPDATE: Weather Changes Opening B1G Schedule at Penn State
3/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| 2015 Northwestern Softball -- Penn State Series |
|
| Game Notes | Northwestern's Weekly Release |
| Game One: Northwestern (11-10) at Penn State (13-12) -- POSTPONED |
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| Date | Friday, March 20 | 5 p.m. CT/6 p.m. ET -- POSTPONED |
| Game One: Northwestern (11-10) at Penn State (13-12) |
|
| Date | Saturday, March 21 | 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET |
| Location | Beard Field | University Park, Pa. |
| Live Coverage | Live Audio | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE  |
| Game Two: Northwestern (11-10) at Penn State (13-12) |
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| Date | Saturday, March 21 | 7 p.m. CT/8 p.m. ET |
| Location | Beard Field | University Park, Pa. |
| Live Coverage | Live Audio | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE |
| Game Three: Northwestern (11-10) at Penn State (13-12) |
|
| Date | Sunday, March 22 | Noon CT/1 p.m. ET |
| Location | Beard Field | University Park, Pa. |
| Live Coverage | Live Audio | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Big Ten play has arrived and Northwestern makes its 2015 conference debut this Friday through Sunday, March 20-22, in a three-game series at Penn State's Beard Field.
WEATHER UPDATE: A late-season storm moving through the east has postponed Friday's game until Saturday. The two teams now will play a 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET doubleheader Saturday, March 21, before facing off as-scheduled at noon CT/1 p.m. ET Sunday, March 22.
Winners of eight of their last nine games including a doubleheader sweep of then 14-4 IUPUI last weekend at the Ballpark at Rosemont, the Wildcats have fully recovered from a 3-9 start to the season and are roaring into the league slate.
Penn State came into this week with a 12-12 overall record and will face Pittsburgh in a Wednesday mid-week game before Northwestern gets to town. The Nittany Lions have been up and down early in the year, earning a quality win over Texas A&M and taking Missouri to extra innings.
Northwestern surged back over .500 with its recent hot streak during which it has hit .346 as a team, averaged 7.7 runs per game and limited opponents to a .199 batting average. NU has wins over South Carolina, Cal State Fullerton, Stanford and Louisville during that stretch, and its only loss came at the hands of No. 11 UCLA. The Wildcats' strength of schedule is outstanding this year; their opponents have a combined record of 352-179 (66 percent) in their non-NU games. One of the #B1GCats best wins so far this season came in the first game of the year when then topped North Carolina, a team now boasting a 20-5 mark in 2015.
Senior Andrea DiPrima leads the Northwestern charge into Big Ten play coming off her first-career four-hit game, which raised her batting average on the season to .466. She ranks 14th in the nation with a .597 on-base percentage. Junior Andrea Filler is hitting .400 and averaging more than one RBI per game with 24 total this year.
Two other Wildcats have heated up specifically during the last nine games. Junior Amy Letourneau is hitting .483 with four home runs and 12 RBIs while freshman Sabrina Rabin is hitting .387 with 10 runs scored. In the circle, Letourneau is 6-0 during the streak while her fellow hurler, junior Kristen Wood, is striking out batters at an 11.3 per seven-inning clip.
The Penn State series comes at the front end of Northwestern's Spring Break, and after the completion of Sunday's game the Wildcats will head to New York City. The team will tour the 9-11 Museum and receive a special visit from the architects of the Museum courtesy of softball alumae and NU Hall of Famer Ndidi (Opia) Massay. The student-athletes also will enjoy a dinner event with many prominent alumni courtesy of the NU For Life program.
Following a day in NYC, Northwestern will face Hofstra and Fordham in a doubleheader Tuesday that currently is scheduled to be played at the Pride's home digs in Hempstead, N.Y.
Programming Note
Long-time Northwestern softball SID Doug Meffley will provide live audio of all three games in this Big Ten-opening series from Penn State on the NUSB UStream channel.
Northwestern Softball Tickets Are On Sale Now!
Single-game and flex plan tickets to see Northwestern softball in action at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, are on sale now. Flex plan purchasers set 10 tickets to Northwestern softball games for just $3 each!
The Wildcats open at Sharon J. Drysdale Field NEXT WEEK, March 27-29, against Big Ten foe Wisconsin.
PLAY BALL!
For a complete preview and notes on this weekend's series at Penn State, download the Northwestern Weekly Release available in the chart at the top of this page.
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