Northwestern University Athletics
Weather Changes NU's Louisville Softball Classic Schedule
3/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
| 2015 Northwestern Softball -- Louisville Softball Classic |
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| Game Notes | Northwestern's Weekly Release |
| Game One: Northwestern (7-10) vs. Ball State (8-11) |
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| Date | Sunday, March 8 | 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET |
| Location | Ulmer Stadium | Louisville, Ky. |
| Live Coverage | Live Audio | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE  |
| Game Two: Northwestern (7-10) at Louisville (8-5) |
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| Date | Sunday, March 8 | Noon p.m. CT/1 p.m. ET |
| Location | Ulmer Stadium | Louisville, Ky. |
| Live Coverage | Live Audio | | @NU_SportsLIVE |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Coming off a good weekend at the Louisville Slugger Invitational co-hosted by Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach State, Northwestern travels to actual Louisville for the Louisville Softball Classic March 7-8. This five-team tournament marks the first trip east for the Wildcats after playing their first four weekends in Arizona, Nevada and California.
The five-team Louisville Softball Classic features some of the top programs in the Midwest along with historically strong Massachusetts converging on Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Ky. The three-day tournament already has been shortened to two days after a late-season storm dumped an unseasonable-in-any-season amount of snow on the Bluegrass State.
WEATHER UPDATE: The snow has swallowed another day, claiming all Saturday contests. Northwestern now is scheduled to play a doubleheader Sunday against Ball State at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET and host Louisville at noon CT/1 p.m. ET.
Prior to the Saturday cancelation, NU was scheduled to open a Saturday doubleheader at 9:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m. ET against Massachusetts before taking on Ball State immediately after. The Wildcats and Minutewomen have a familial connection, with Northwestern freshman Marissa Panko's older sister Mikayla playing as a senior at UMass.
On Sunday, NU was scheduled to take on Illinois State, a strong program out of the Missouri Valley Conference, at 11:30 a.m. CT/12:30 p.m. CT before facing the tournament host Louisville Cardinals right after. The Redbirds are having a season similar to the Wildcats, with 10 of their 12 losses coming to teams that currently are ranked in the polls.
Northwestern now is 7-10 on the year after a 3-1 record last weekend that featured wins over Cal State Fullerton and Stanford, while the loss came against No. 14 UCLA. Of NU's 17 games this year, 10 have come against teams currently ranked or receiving votes while all but two of those 17 foes are within one game of .500, combining for a record of 218-109 (67 percent).
This weekend's tournament schedule is very much up in the air due to the early spring winter storm that invaded the South in recent days. While NU originally only had games on Saturday and Sunday at the event, every other team was supposed to play on Friday as well -- those games already have been canceled while the field is cleared and prepared for competition.
Northwestern's offense started to hit up and down the order last weekend. Junior Amy Letourneau had a breakout performance in NU's four games, hitting .500 at the plate with three homes runs while going 3-0 in the circle. Senior Anna Edwards hit .375 with four RBIs and junior Andrea Filler batted .429 with three extran base hits. Meanwhile, Andrea DiPrima continues to chug along with a .395 batting average this season.
Programming Note
#B1GCats live audio continues this weekend featuring long-time Northwestern softball SID Doug Meffley on the NUSB free UStream channel. A direct link to the broadcast is available on the schedule page at NUsports.com, the chart at the top of this page, or go directly to the NUSB UStream Page.
Northwestern Softball Tickets Are On Sale Now!
Tickets to see Northwestern softball in action at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, are on sale now. Tickets to individual games and new flex plans went on sale Monday, Feb. 16.
NU returns to the Chicagoland area March 14 to host a doubleheader against IUPUI at The Ballpark at Rosemont, home of the Chicago Bandits. IUPUI is coached by former Wildcats volunteer assistant Amanda Rivera and NU All-American Adrienne Monka.
The Wildcats open at Sharon J. Drysdale Field March 27-29 against Big Ten foe Wisconsin. More information on ticket pricing and availability will be released next week.
PLAY BALL!
For a complete preview and notes on this weekend's Louisville Softball Classic, download the Northwestern Weekly Release available in the chart at the top of this page.
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