Spring Break 2017 Takes Wildcats to Santa Clara Round Robin

3/15/2017 4:23:00 PM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: Santa Clara Round Robin
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	AUDIO	LIVE STATS
Friday, March 17	Long Beach State	1:30 p.m. CT/ 11:30 a.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Friday, March 17	Lehigh	4 p.m. CT/ 2 p.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Saturday, March 18	Grand Canyon	6:30 p.m. CT/ 4:30 p.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Saturday, March 18	Santa Clara	9 p.m. CT/ 7 p.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Sunday, March 19	Long Beach State	11 a.m. CT/ 9 a.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Sunday, March 19	Santa Clara	1:30 p.m. CT/ 11:30 a.m. PT	Santa Clara Stadium	Studio N ($)	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Official Tournament Website

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Following a week off for winter quarter finals, Northwestern heads to Northern California for seven games during Spring Break 2017, beginning with a six-game schedule March 17-19 at the Santa Clara Round Robin.

The Wildcats will pack three doubleheaders into a busy three-day stretch at Santa Clara Softball Stadium. On Friday, NU faces Long Beach State and Lehigh starting at 1:30 p.m. CT/11:30 a.m. PT. Saturday features games versus a good 23-4 Grand Canyon squad and the host Broncos beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT/4:30 p.m. PT before a quick turnaround for an 11 a.m. CT/9 a.m. PT double-dip Sunday against LBSU and Santa Clara.

Following the tournament, Northwestern will take a day off and travel to Saint Mary's for a 5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT single contest Tuesday, March 21, to cap Spring Break 2017.

Northwestern is coming off a well-deserved break following an intense month of games to open the year—even by Wildcats standard. Eleven of NU's first 18 contests of the year came against ranked opponents, including six against the nation's current top-6 ranked teams. Despite a 6-12 overall record, Northwestern comported itself well in those games, earning a victory over No. 23 California and taking three teams into extra innings.

Led by second-year pitching coach Michelle Gascoigne, NU's pitching staff has been a revelation. The largely green staff coming into the season has faced its stiff competition with aplomb, leading to a team ERA of 3.31 despite a murderer's row of opposing offenses. All four Wildcats' pitchers have already had "signature outings" in 2017, and are well-prepared to begin the second segment of NU's season.

Meanwhile, junior Sabrina Rabin is coming off the Big Ten Player of the Week award following NU's last tournament. She batted .474 at the Judi Garman Classic, running her current hitting streak to eight games. She has had six multi-hit contests over that stretch.

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL HOME TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!

After cavorting around Northern California on Spring Break 2017, the Wildcats return home to open their Sharon J. Drysdale Field schedule March 24-26 against No. 24 Wisconsin. Season passes for NU's 13 home games are available now at NUsports.com. In addition to Wisconsin, Northwestern welcomes Illinois, Maryland and Purdue to town from the Big Ten while also hosting nonconference matchups with UIC, Notre Dame and DePaul. Get your tickets today!

We also are holding a raffle each day next week leading up to the start of the home season March 24 against No. 24 Wisconsin. One season-ticket holder will be randomly selected each day to win the prize in the chart below—so don't wait until the last minute, buy your season tickets today to be eligible for all of next week's prizes!

NORTHWESTERN RELEASES STREAMING SCHEDULE FOR REMAINDER OF 2017

Northwestern has 34 games remaining in the 2017 regular season, and the Wildcats have released their full streaming schedule beginning with all six games this weekend at the Santa Clara Round Robin Tournament. Northwestern SID Doug Meffley returns to the road and is scheduled to have an audio broadcast of all six games from Santa Clara on NU's Studio N subscription platform.

Once again this season, the majority of NU's games will be broadcast via BTN Plus or Studio N, two subscription platforms each requiring separate purchases. More information on each service and a helpful broadcast list are below; please note that all of these game designations are subject to change. Links to each game broadcast will be found on the schedule page at NUsports.com.

STUDIO N (12 Games): Studio N audio and video fall under a single subscription once again this year. Northwestern softball SID Doug Meffley will have seven road audio broadcasts in addition to five home streams that will all be part of the Studio N package. Cost is $3.95 for a 24 hour pass, $6.95 for a monthly pass (BEST VALUE!) or $39.95 for an annual pass. We recommend a monthly pass for the Santa Clara Round Robin Tournament because it will also give you access to the entire Wisconsin home series (March 24-26) and the UIC home game (March 29) for one $6.95 purchase.

March 17-19 (Santa Clara Round Robin)
March 24-26 (Wisconsin home series)
March 29 (UIC home game)
May 3 (DePaul home game)

BTN PLUS (16 Games): Northwestern will play 16 games on BTN Plus this season. Cost is $9.95 for a monthly pass for Northwestern games. If you plan to purchase a BTN Plus subscription, we recommend you wait until just before the Michigan series to maximize your monthly pass.