Wednesday, April 21
Iowa City, Iowa
6:30 pm CT
Northwestern
vs
#8 Rutgers
This Week in Northwestern Athletics: April 21
4/21/2021 1:38:00 PM | Baseball, Men's Golf, Softball, Women's Cross Country & Track, Women's Golf, Field Hockey
Six programs will be in action for this weekend, headlined by the Big Ten Championships for the Field Hockey and Women's Golf programs:
Field Hockey
Field hockey plays No. 8 Rutgers in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday night in Iowa City, Iowa. The matchup is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. All nine Big Ten teams will compete in the postseason bracket hosted at Iowa's Grant Field from April 20-24.
The Wildcats secured the Tournament's three seed after a huge two-game sweep of the then-No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend. Redshirt sophomore Bente Baekers shined in the set, scoring all three of Northwestern's goals against Iowa. Baekers leads the team with 10 goals on the season and is tied with Christen Conley for the team lead with five assists. She currently ranks 20th in the nation in goals per game and 21st in points per game.
Women's Golf
Women's golf is set to compete in the Big Ten Championships this weekend from April 23-25 at TPC's River Bend in Maineville, Ohio. Northwestern has impressed at the competition over the last decade, winning the title in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The Tournament was canceled last year in response to COVID-19.
Sophomore Irene Kim and junior Kelly Sim took home Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week honors last month after strong performances at the Bruin/Wave and Ping ASU Invitationals. Kim took home a second place finish at Bruin/Wave while helping the team to the same placement on one of the most challenging courses in the country. Sim took home the individual title at Ping ASU, going -5 over 54 holes at the competition.
The Wildcats enter the postseason off a strong fifth-place finish at the Indiana Invitational among a crowd of mostly Big Ten schools. Chicago's Big Ten Team placed one spot better than in-state rival Illinois.
Softball
Coming off a series victory over Iowa, the 'Cats look to carry their momentum into the four-game series against No. 20 Michigan. Last Friday, Danielle Williams made history with the program's fifth perfect game in history. She collected six strikeouts in seven innings of work. WIlliams was awarded Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for her dominant weekend performance.
Rachel Lewis fell just a double short of the cycle in the same game. She picked up her fifth homer of the season to go along with three runs and two RBI.
NU is 21-7 and sits at third in the Big Ten behind just Minnesota and Michigan, who sits atop the Big Ten. The Wildcats haven't squared off against the Wolverines since 2017. The first matchup of the series will be broadcast on ESPNU on Friday, April 23 at 6 p.m. CT.
Men's Golf
Northwestern men's golf will hit the links this weekend for their sixth tournament of the season. They will travel to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Kepler Intercollegiate.
John Driscoll is coming off a strong performance at the Boilermaker Invitational, finishing tied for fourth at three-under on the weekend. Driscoll finished ahead of four top-100 golfers and a top-five golfer. Driscoll dominated the par 5's, scoring six-under on the par 5's for the tournament. The sophomore also finished with the third most pars in the field.
James Imai finished top-25 while also destroying the par 5's finishing with a 4.67 scoring average on those holes. Varun Chopra finished tied for the fourth most birdies in the field.
Follow the Kepler Intercollegiate here on Golfstat starting Saturday, April 24th.
Baseball
After a six-game homestand, Northwestern makes a quick road trip to Iowa City this weekend for two games with Maryland and two with Iowa. The Wildcats will play the Terps Saturday night and Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. and 12:05 p.m., respectively. The games with the Hawkeyes will start at 4:05 p.m. Sunday and 3:05 p.m. Monday. All times are in CT.
Chicago's Big Ten Team has been mashing baseballs this season, already collecting 47 home runs. Northwestern's 1.96 home runs per game are the most in the nation. The 'Cats added 11 to that total during the homestand, including Vincent Bianchina's home runs in back-to-back innings during the 8-5 win over Indiana last Saturday.
Cross Country
The women's cross country team will be taking a quick jog to Champaign, Illinois to compete in the Big Ten Relays.
Last time out, the 'Cats performed well at the Big Ten Invite #2, with three runners finishing in the top-10 in their respective events. Clare Severe finished seventh in the 1500m race, climbing to second on the Northwestern all-time leaderboard.
First-year Emily Casaclang took first in section one of the 1500m. She now sits ninth on the Northwestern leaderboard. Sophomore Kalea Bartolotto took fourth in the 10,000m race, finishing with a time of 34:58.
Field Hockey
Field hockey plays No. 8 Rutgers in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament Wednesday night in Iowa City, Iowa. The matchup is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. CT on the Big Ten Network. All nine Big Ten teams will compete in the postseason bracket hosted at Iowa's Grant Field from April 20-24.
The Wildcats secured the Tournament's three seed after a huge two-game sweep of the then-No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend. Redshirt sophomore Bente Baekers shined in the set, scoring all three of Northwestern's goals against Iowa. Baekers leads the team with 10 goals on the season and is tied with Christen Conley for the team lead with five assists. She currently ranks 20th in the nation in goals per game and 21st in points per game.
Women's Golf
Women's golf is set to compete in the Big Ten Championships this weekend from April 23-25 at TPC's River Bend in Maineville, Ohio. Northwestern has impressed at the competition over the last decade, winning the title in 2013, 2015 and 2016. The Tournament was canceled last year in response to COVID-19.
Sophomore Irene Kim and junior Kelly Sim took home Big Ten Women's Golfer of the Week honors last month after strong performances at the Bruin/Wave and Ping ASU Invitationals. Kim took home a second place finish at Bruin/Wave while helping the team to the same placement on one of the most challenging courses in the country. Sim took home the individual title at Ping ASU, going -5 over 54 holes at the competition.
The Wildcats enter the postseason off a strong fifth-place finish at the Indiana Invitational among a crowd of mostly Big Ten schools. Chicago's Big Ten Team placed one spot better than in-state rival Illinois.
Softball
Coming off a series victory over Iowa, the 'Cats look to carry their momentum into the four-game series against No. 20 Michigan. Last Friday, Danielle Williams made history with the program's fifth perfect game in history. She collected six strikeouts in seven innings of work. WIlliams was awarded Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for her dominant weekend performance.
Rachel Lewis fell just a double short of the cycle in the same game. She picked up her fifth homer of the season to go along with three runs and two RBI.
NU is 21-7 and sits at third in the Big Ten behind just Minnesota and Michigan, who sits atop the Big Ten. The Wildcats haven't squared off against the Wolverines since 2017. The first matchup of the series will be broadcast on ESPNU on Friday, April 23 at 6 p.m. CT.
Men's Golf
Northwestern men's golf will hit the links this weekend for their sixth tournament of the season. They will travel to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Kepler Intercollegiate.
John Driscoll is coming off a strong performance at the Boilermaker Invitational, finishing tied for fourth at three-under on the weekend. Driscoll finished ahead of four top-100 golfers and a top-five golfer. Driscoll dominated the par 5's, scoring six-under on the par 5's for the tournament. The sophomore also finished with the third most pars in the field.
James Imai finished top-25 while also destroying the par 5's finishing with a 4.67 scoring average on those holes. Varun Chopra finished tied for the fourth most birdies in the field.
Follow the Kepler Intercollegiate here on Golfstat starting Saturday, April 24th.
Baseball
After a six-game homestand, Northwestern makes a quick road trip to Iowa City this weekend for two games with Maryland and two with Iowa. The Wildcats will play the Terps Saturday night and Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 5:05 p.m. and 12:05 p.m., respectively. The games with the Hawkeyes will start at 4:05 p.m. Sunday and 3:05 p.m. Monday. All times are in CT.
Chicago's Big Ten Team has been mashing baseballs this season, already collecting 47 home runs. Northwestern's 1.96 home runs per game are the most in the nation. The 'Cats added 11 to that total during the homestand, including Vincent Bianchina's home runs in back-to-back innings during the 8-5 win over Indiana last Saturday.
Cross Country
The women's cross country team will be taking a quick jog to Champaign, Illinois to compete in the Big Ten Relays.
Last time out, the 'Cats performed well at the Big Ten Invite #2, with three runners finishing in the top-10 in their respective events. Clare Severe finished seventh in the 1500m race, climbing to second on the Northwestern all-time leaderboard.
First-year Emily Casaclang took first in section one of the 1500m. She now sits ninth on the Northwestern leaderboard. Sophomore Kalea Bartolotto took fourth in the 10,000m race, finishing with a time of 34:58.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Field Hockey
/ Women's Cross Country & Track
INF
/ Baseball
/ Women's Cross Country & Track
/ Men's Golf
B/M
/ Field Hockey
/ Men's Golf
/ Women's Golf
IF/OF
/ Softball
/ Women's Cross Country & Track
/ Women's Golf
P/U
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