Wildcats Kick Off NCAA Athens Regional Friday Against Cowgirls

Friday, May 20

Athens, Ga.

Noon CT/1 p.m. ET

Northwestern

Oklahoma State

Wildcats Kick Off NCAA Athens Regional Friday Against Cowgirls

5/17/2016 12:51:00 PM | Softball

By: Doug Meffley

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: NCAA Athens Regional
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LISTEN	LIVE STATS
GAME 1: Friday, May 20	NU 2 Oklahoma St. 1	Noon CT/ 1 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3	WNUR 89.3 FM	Live Stats
GAME 2: Friday, May 20	Georgia 6, Maine 0	2:30 p.m. CT/ 3:30 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3
GAME 3: Saturday, May 21	NU vs. Georgia	Noon CT/ 1 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3	WNUR (Online Only)	Live Stats
GAME 4: Saturday, May 21	Oklahoma St. vs. Maine	2:30 p.m. CT/ 3:30 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3
GAME 5: Saturday, May 21	Loser G3 vs. Winner G4	5 p.m. CT/ 6 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3
GAME 6: Sunday, May 22	Winner G3 vs. Winner G5	Noon CT/ 1 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3
GAME 7: Sunday, May 22	(If Necessary)	2:30 p.m. CT/ 3:30 p.m. ET	Jack Turner Stadium Athens, Ga.	ESPN3
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Athens Tournament Central \| Full NCAA Tournament Interactive Bracket

EVANSTON, Ill. -- At one point on April 3, 2016, Northwestern's record stood at 10-20 overall with a little over a month left in the regular season. The Wildcats hit the clutch and shifted into high gear, run-ruling No. 21 Minnesota later that day to kick start a 15-5 run to end the year, culminating in NCAA eligibility and—ultimately—a berth in this weekend's Athens Regional hosted by Georgia.

Perhaps no team in the field of 64 is as battled tested and primed for the pressure of postseason as Northwestern, which has essentially been playing in elimination games for weeks. Clutch hitting, solid pitching and the return of senior Kristen Wood from emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder midway through the year have all bouyed the #B1GCats in the final third of the year.

Northwestern is making its 16th NCAA appearance in program history, and its 11th under 15-year head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan. The pair have a history of success, compiling a 29-23 Tournament that includes six Regional championship round berths, four Regional titles and two Women's College World Series berths—which both resulted in semifinal appearances.

The full schedule and bracket are laid out in the chart at the top of this page; it will be updated throughout the weekend, so check back here for links to watch, listen and view live stats for all of Northwestern's games.

Here's a quick look at the four teams at the Athens Regional:

No. 1 seed (16th overall) Georgia (40-17; 8th Place in the SEC)
Entering SEC play with a 25-3 record that included a 5-4 win over Northwestern, Georgia was flying high in the national rankings. The Bulldogs ended up taking 12 of their 17 losses this year in conference. Blessed with speed atop the lineup courtesy of the Emanuel sisters and power anchored by 20-home run hitter Tina Iosefa, Georgia can score runs. In the circle, Chelsea Wilkinson has thrown the lion's share of the innings, compiling a 23-7 record with a 2.04 ERA, a .208 opponent's batting average and a shade under one K per inning pitched.

No. 2 seed Oklahoma State (29-24; 5th Place in the Big XII)
Much like Northwestern, Oklahoma State faced a tough schedule in 2016 and finished the year strong. With nine games left, the Cowgirls were 22-22 before reeling off seven-straight victories, though they dropped a pair against Oklahoma to end the year. Statistically NU and OSU are similar, as well, with good offenses featuring a mix of power and speed alongside timely pitching down the stretch.

No. 3 seed Northwestern (26-26; 3rd Place in the Big Ten)
Anchored by powerful fifth-year seniors Andrea Filler and Amy Letourneau behind speedy leadoff catalyst Sabrina Rabin, the Wildcats are hot-hot-hot coming into this weekend's Athens Regional as winners of 12 of their last 14 games. Rabin was 6-for-7 in two games at the B1G Tourney.

No. 4 seed Maine (28-19; Champions of America East)
Maine is making its third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance and its first since 2004 after run-ruling Albany, 14-1, in the championship game of the America East tournament. The Black Bears hit .320 as a team and all three of their regular pitchers have sub-3.00 ERAs, including Molly Flowers, who has struck out 142 batters in 108.1 innings while allowing a miniscule .179 opponent's batting average.

PROGRAMMING NOTE

LIVE TELEVISION: All games at the Athens Regional will be televised on ESPN3, available on WatchESPN.

LIVE AUDIO: Student Radio WNUR 89.3 FM will provide live coverage of all NU games in this Regional. The first game will be live over the air; all games will be streamed at wnursports.com. In light of the WNUR coverage, there will be NO Doug Meffley Studio N stream for the Regional.

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

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