#B1GCats, Illini Meet in B1G Double-Dip Wednesday on BTN

Wednesday, April 13

Urbana-Champaign, IL

5 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Illinois

Softball TEam huddle celebration home run

#B1GCats, Illini Meet in B1G Double-Dip Wednesday on BTN

4/11/2016 7:05:00 PM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: at Illinois
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	TV	LISTEN	LIVE STATS
Wednesday, April 13	Illinois	5 p.m. CT	Eichelberger Field	BTN	Studio N	Live Stats
Wednesday, April 13	Illinois	7 p.m. CT	Eichelberger Field	BTN	Studio N	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern takes a brief respite from its four-weekend April homestand this Wednesday, April 13, for a 5 p.m. CT doubleheader at Illinois live on BTN.

The Wildcats are bringing a four-game winning streak with them to Champaign after sweeping Iowa last weekend at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. NU also captured the series finale against then-No. 21 Minnesota the weekend before. The Illini are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Gophers last weekend in Minneapolis. Both teams are ranked in the top-50 of the current RPI, with Illinois at No. 45 and Northwestern at No. 49.

NU is halfway through a stretch of four-straight Big Ten weekends being played in Evanston, a string that continues April 15-17 against Nebraska. Northwestern will host a Women's College World Series reunion that weekend for all five of its WCWS teams; special ceremonies and festivities will be held during the April 16 contest.

CLICK HERE FOR NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL SEASON TICKETS FOR THE WCWS REUNION WEEKEND!

Northwestern, which was one of the nation's top slugging teams after the first three weekends of the 2016 season, turned the juice back up against the Hawkeyes, banging out eight home runs in the three-game series including five from fifth-year seniors Andrea Filler and Amy Letourneau. Letourneau had an outstanding series, especially in the first game when she was two RBIs short of a double-double: she struck out 11 while earning the win in the circle and knocked in eight at the plate on three hits including a grand slam.

NU's most feared slugger in Big Ten play, however, has been senior Fran Strub, who is batting .600 and slugging 1.200 in league play—both team highs. Strub, who doubled twice at No. 2 Michigan and hit a walk-off home run against then-No. 21 Minnesota—contributed another double and home run to her resume during the Iowa series.

Freshman Morgan Nelson slammed another three-run home run out of the park against the Hawkeyes, giving the April 4 Big Ten Freshman of the Week more league accomplishments. She has raised her batting average 64 points since the beginning the conference play—and impressive feat considering six of NU's nine games have come against the ranked Wolverines and Gophers.

In the circle, freshman Kenzie Ellis is really stepping up. She figured in every decision for the Wildcats against the Hawkeyes, picking up a save in Game One before earning the win as a starter in Game Two and a reliever in Game Three.

PROGRAMMING NOTE

LIVE BROADCAST: Both games Wednesday will be broadcast live on BTN.

LIVE AUDIO: Like most road games earlier in the year, longtime NU SID Doug Meffley will have live audio for both games of the doubleheader via Studio N at NUsports.com.

LIVE STATS: Live stats for every game can be found on the schedule page at NUsports.com, or by clicking here.

For more information on how to subscribe to Northwestern softball broadcasts, including a handy chart of stream availability, link to this release.

PLAY BALL!
For Northwestern's complete game notes package for the Illinois series, download the .pdf in the chart at the top of this release or click here.