Northwestern Hosts Illinois Wednesday Live on BTN

5/1/2017 10:35:00 AM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: Illinois/Iowa Series
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	COVERAGE	LIVE STATS
Wednesday, May 3	Illinois	2 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	BTN	Live Stats
Wednesday, May 3	Illinois	4:30 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	BTN	Live Stats
Friday, May 5	Iowa	6 p.m. CT	Bob Pearl Field	BTN Plus ($)	Live Stats
Saturday, May 6	Iowa	2 p.m. CT	Bob Pearl Field	BTN Plus ($)	Live Stats
Sunday, May 7	Iowa	1 p.m. CT	Bob Pearl Field	BTN Plus ($)	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern returns to Sharon J. Drysdale Field this weekend to close out its 2017 home schedule with a 2 p.m. CT doubleheader against Illinois live on BTN.

The games originally were scheduled for April 5, but poor weather that day forced a month-long postponement that will come to an end Wednesday.

Like all midweek games this year at The J, fans will be able to play softball bingo for NU prize packs, and $1 hot dogs are available at the concession stand through the fourth inning of each game (Dollar Dogs will reset in-between contests).

There also will be a Papa John's pizza party in between games for Northwestern students and the NU Wildside.

Northwestern last played a Big Ten series at home April 21-23 against Purdue, sweeping the Boilermakers on Senior Weekend. Alcy Bush, Anna Petersen, and Krista Williams were honored during the festivities, and each had performances to remember. Bush jacked a home run in the opener, driving in three runs in the game. Williams batted .545 (6-for-11) in the series to kick start what has been a red-hot last two weeks. Petersen had a pair of doubles and a .545 OBP in NU's three-game set.

A fourth member of the senior class, Nicole Bond, will return to the Wildcats next season as a fifth-year and pursue a graduate degree after missing all of 2015 with an injury.

Illinois arrives in Evanston in the middle of a resurgent season, owning a 35-12 overall record while sitting third in the conference standings at 13-4. The Illini split two games with Wisconsin last weekend at Eichelberger Field in Champaign; the third game of the series was rained out. On Tuesday night, Illinois will host Eastern Illinois before traveling up to Chicago.

The series will mark NU's fourth against the current top-four in the Big Ten standings this season and its first at home. The Wildcats already have traveled to first-place Minnesota, second-place Michigan and fourth-place Nebraska. The schedule in an extension of Northwestern's overall season slate, which currently is ranked as the sixth-toughest nonconference SOS in the nation.

NU concludes the regular season this weekend with a May 5-7 series at Iowa, which currently is in a three-way tie for eighth in the Big Ten. All three games in Iowa will be streamed live on BTN Plus.

The Wildcats then travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the 2017 Big Ten Tournament May 11-13 hosted by Michigan.