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University of Kentucky
Northwestern's NCAA Tourney Begins Friday in South Bend
5/13/2015 4:05:00 PM | Softball
NU will face Kentucky for the first time ever in Friday's opening contest
Ten years ago marked the first season in which the NCAA Tournament used the current four-team Regional format, and Northwestern advanced out of South Bend after defeating Notre Dame on Sunday. That Regional also was the last time South Bend served as an NCAA host.
NU started a stretch of four-straight Regional titles in 2005 including three straight at Sharon J. Drysdale Field (NU welcomed ND for the 2006 and 2007 editions). The Wildcats advanced twice to the Women's College World Series in that time frame, finishing second in 2006 and third in 2007.
Northwestern and SEC foe Kentucky will open the 2015 South Bend Region at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET in the first-ever meeting between the programs. The two Wildcats' records reflect their battle-tested nature after taking on by far the toughest 2015 schedules of any team in this Region, with Kentucky facing the No. 2 overall schedule in the nation while Northwestern challenged itself with the sixth-ranked nonconference SOS. The other two teams in the Region, Notre Dame (41st nonconference SOS) and Ball State (58th nonconference SOS), also played some quality foes this year. Below is a little more on each of the Regional teams:
No. 1 seed (16th overall) Notre Dame (40-13)
Notre Dame enjoyed a 24-game winning streak midway through 2015 (including a 3-2 win over NU), but was bounced from the ACC Tournament with a first round loss to Pitt, 8-1. The Irish featured past All-Americans Emilee Koerner, Katey Haus and Micaela Arizmendi.
No. 2 seed Kentucky (29-24)
After beginning the year in the top-10 coming off a 2014 Women's College World Series berth, Kentucky built a 21-5 record early in 2015, but enter this NCAA Regional having lost seven-straight games and 13 of their last 15. Still, the Wildcats remain a challenging team with 2015 USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List member Kelsey Nunley in the circle.
No. 3 seed Northwestern (28-21)
Boasting the Big Ten Freshman of the Year Sabrina Rabin, one of the nation's RBI leaders in Andrea Filler and a cast of eight total past and present All-Big Ten or NFCA All-Region performers, NU has a deep team that rebounded from a 3-9 start to 2015.
No. 4 seed Ball State (33-23)
Winners of the MAC Tourney, Ball State is making its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2010. NU run-ruled Ball State 13-0 on March 8 this year in a game that was not at all indicative of the Cardinals' true talent. Four Cardinals earned All-MAC honors this year.
COVERAGE
Northwestern student radio WNUR 89.3 FM will provide coverage of all NU games at this Regional. The first two will be broadcast over the air and streamed at WNURsports.com while subsequent games will be streamed at their UStream Channel. Notre Dame also will provide a live stream at und.com.
TICKETS
General admission tickets for the three-day regional tournament in the chairback section of Melissa Cook Stadium are $10 each day. General admission bleacher seating is $5 per person, with youth bleacher tickets available for $3. Daily ticket purchases grant fans admission to each game scheduled for a particular day.
PLAY BALL!
For a complete preview and notes on this weekend's NCAA Regional, download the Northwestern weekly release available in the chart at the top of this page.
