No. 8 Wildcats Welcome Iowa for Senior Weekend Series

Friday, April 29

Evanston, IL

4 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Iowa

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Photo by: Northwestern Athletics

No. 8 Wildcats Welcome Iowa for Senior Weekend Series

4/28/2022 11:17:00 AM | Softball

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NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, April 29	Iowa	4 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Saturday, April 30	Iowa	1 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Sunday, May 1	Iowa	Noon CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Social: Twitter: @NUSBcats \| Instagram: @NUSBcats

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern softball returns home to Sharon J. Drysdale Field for the Wildcats' final regular season home series of the 2022 season as they welcome in the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Heading into the penultimate week of the regular season, Northwestern currently sits atop the Big Ten conference standings with a 15-2 record (.882 win%) ahead of Nebraska (14-2) and Illinois (12-4). Northwestern is vying for its eighth Big Ten championship in franchise history, as well as its third under head coach Kate Drohan and first since 2008.

The Wildcats check in at No. 8 in this week's latest NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. Major postseason implications are in play in these final weeks leading up to the NCAA Selection Show on May 15, and the 'Cats currently sit at No. 7 in the most recent RPI poll, headlining a total of seven Big Ten programs ranked in the Top 50.

This past week, Northwestern collected its third-consecutive Big Ten Player of the Week honors as Nikki Cuchran took home the award for the first time in her career after hitting .412 (7-for-17) with eight RBI in Northwestern's 4-1 week on the road at Illinois and Indiana. Cuchran had three multi-RBI games and two multi-hit games, driving in the game-winning run in the Wildcats' victory at Illinois and also hitting a three-run home to spark a comeback victory at Indiana. Cuchran is the third different Wildcat to win Big Ten Player of the Week over the last three weeks (Jordyn Rudd won on April 11, Rachel Lewis on April 18).

Also cleaning up the Big Ten weekly awards was Danielle Williams, who was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for a fourth time this season and the ninth time in her career. Williams gathered wins in all four appearances last week, going 4-0 with three complete games (one shutout), a 0.84 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 25.0 innings, holding opponents to a .146 batting average. Her nine Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors are tied for the fifth most in the conference's history, behind only Minnesota's Sara Groenewegen (16) and Amber Fiser (11) as well as Michigan's Jordan Taylor (14) and Megan Betsa (11).

Multiple promotions will be available to fans in attendance at Sharon J. Drysdale Field this weekend, headlined by Senior Day on Sunday which will take place prior to first pitch at approximately 11:45 am CT.

A total of nine Wildcats will be honored: Rachel Lewis (graduate student) and the entire eight-member senior class that arrived on campus together in the Fall of 2018 (Lauren Caldrone, Nikki Cuchran, Lauren Dvorak, Maeve Nelson, Jordyn Rudd, Sammy Stanley, Skyler Shellmyer, Danielle Williams). In total, Northwestern's senior class has posted a 123-49 (.715 win%) record and a 65-19 (.773 win%) record in Big Ten play during their careers, putting them among the most successful senior classes in Wildcat history.