Senior Weekend Arrives Early at Sharon J. Drysdale Field

Friday, April 22

Evanston, Ill.

4 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Michigan State

Tickets

National Anthem Sharon J. Drysdale Field

Senior Weekend Arrives Early at Sharon J. Drysdale Field

4/20/2016 2:20:00 PM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: vs. Michigan State
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH ($)	LIVE STATS
Friday, April 22	Michigan State	4 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	BTN Plus on BTN2Go	Live Stats
Saturday, April 23	Michigan State	1 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	BTN Plus on BTN2Go	Live Stats
Sunday, April 24	Michigan State	Noon CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	BTN Plus on BTN2Go	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With double-digit games still remaining in the 2016 season, Senior Weekend has arrived early at Sharon J. Drysdale Field for Northwestern's final home Big Ten series April 22-24 against Michigan State.

Game One begins at 4 p.m. CT Friday followed by Game Two at 1 p.m. CT Saturday. NU will host "Breakfast at the Ballpark" for fans prior to Saturday's game with a full breakfast provided free for student and for $10 for all other fans. After the game Saturday, Northwestern will host its 10th annual Purple Auction in Welsh-Ryan Arena to honor all seven members of the Senior Class with great food, drinks and amazing auction items to bid on.

The full Senior Day ceremonies then will take place prior to noon on Sunday to honor all seven Wildcats in this large senior class: Caylor Arnold, Andrea Filler, Brianna LeBeau, Amy Letourneau, Aubrie May, Fran Strub and Kristen Wood.

The Wildcats are at the tail end of a four-weekend homestand after opening the Big Ten schedule at Michigan in March. NU will conclude the regular season at Wisconsin (April 29-May 1) and at Purdue (May 6-8).

Northwestern saw its six-game Big Ten winning streak come to an end last weekend in three losses to Nebraska, including a marathon 11-9 defeat in 11 innings on Sunday. Still, with the help of a doubleheader sweep at Illinois last Wednesday, NU climbed a spot in the most recent NCAA RPI to No. 48 thanks to having one of the nation's toughest schedules to date. The Wildcats are focused on one game at a time in an attempt to replicate the phenomenal ending they had to the 2012 season, when they rallied to win eight of their final nine games and qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Letourneau has been on fire for Northwestern, especially against Nebraska when she racked up her third multi-home run game on Sunday, driving in five runs with two more jacks to give her a team-high 12 on the year. She now ranks among the top 30 in the NCAA in home runs and RBIs, while ranking in the top six in the Big Ten in six different offensive categories during league play.

Her classmate Strub continued her all-out assault on the Big Ten with two more doubles against the Cornhuskers, giving her eight extra-base hits among her 12 base knocks in conference action. Until Letourneau's home run barrage against the Huskers, Strub was Northwestern's leading slugger in Big Ten play.

At the other end of the spectrum, freshman Morgan Nelson's credentials in the Big Ten rose even further in the Nebraska series. Sunday alone she walked three times and crushed a two-run home run, raising her on-base percentage to .519 and giving her a .359 batting average with a .744 slugging percentage in league play.

Though this weekend is Senior Weekend, Northwestern does have one final game at Sharon J. Drysdale Field at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, when Leo Krause's Loyola Ramblers make the short trek from Rogers Park to Evanston for a non-conference contest.

A SHORT WORD ON THE SENIORS:

Caylor Arnold
In the first start of her career on Opening Day 2015, Caylor smashed her first-career home run: a game-tying blast in an eventual win over North Carolina. Caylor has been a regular behind the plate during her junior and senior seasons, starting more than 50 games. Off the field, she is an accomplished sports photographer, working with USA Today Sports Images and covering major sporting events around the Chicagoland area.

Andrea Filler
After transferring to Northwestern as a sophomore in 2014, Andrea has packed more into her three years in Evanston than most do in a four-year career. A candidate for the 2016 Senior CLASS Award for her work on and off the field, Andrea also is a two-time NFCA All-Region selection and was an All-Big Ten first-team choice in 2015. In just three years, she ranks third in NU history in doubles, ninth in RBIs and 10^th in home runs.

Brianna LeBeau
An All-Big Ten and NFCA All-Region first-team selection after batting .379 and slugging .690 while driving in 43 runs and being hit by a school-single-season record 17 pitches as a sophomore, Brianna has started 146 games in her career on the right side of the Northwestern infield. She earned Big Ten All-Defensive team honors for her play there in 2013. Off the field, Brianna is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten award winner.

Amy Letourneau
Amy has been a powerful presence at the plate and in the circle throughout her five-year career in Evanston. She had a breakout sophomore campaign, becoming the first person to ever win the Big Ten batting title at the plate and the strikeout crown in the circle in the same season. Though she was slowed by injury in 2014 and 2015, she still is a multiple-time All-Big Ten and NFCA All-Region honoree. She ranks sixth in NU history in home runs and seventh in RBIs offensively while ranking sixth in wins and strikeouts in the circle. She has two-career no-hitters.

Aubrie May
Aubrie started 18 games early during her freshman season in 2013 before injuries kept her out of action for all but one game through 2014 and 2015. As a senior, Aubrie entered the first game of the year and crushed a bases-clearing, three-run, pinch hit double to begin her final season in purple with a bang. She would go on to hit her first collegiate home run against New Mexico State on Feb. 26 in a moment four years in the making.

Fran Strub
A two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree and an NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete, Fran spent the majority of her career as Northwestern's top pinch runner while playing outstanding defense in the outfield. After scoring 49 times in a pinch from 2013-16, she entered the starting offensive lineup in 2016 beginning at No. 2 Michigan and crushed a pair of doubles, starting a hot streak at the plate that has extended for the entire conference season.

Kristen Wood
A two-time NFCA All-Region honoree, Kristen has been a strikeout queen in the circle for Northwestern. She won the conference K crown in 2014 with 105 in league play while ranking 18^th in the nation with 8.9 strikeouts per seven innings. In 2014 and 2015, she recorded back-to-back 200 strikeout seasons, propelling her to eighth on Northwestern's all-time strikeout list. She has thrown three no-hitters in her career.

SINGLE-GAME AND SEASON PASSES ON SALE NOW!
Single-game and group tickets are on sale now for this weekend's games! Support the #B1GCats by buying your tickets early!

PROGRAMMING NOTE

LIVE VIDEO: All three games against Michigan State will be covered on BTN Plus on BTN2Go, available with a monthly subscription. Subscribe to BTN Plus here.

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 Michigan State series, download the .pdf in the chart at the top of this release or click here.