Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan
First-Place Wildcats Head to Michigan For Weekend Series
4/20/2023 6:20:00 PM | Softball
| NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: GAME INFORMATION | |||||
| DATE | OPPONENT | TIME | LOCATION | WATCH | LIVE STATS |
| Friday, April 21 | Michigan | 5 pm CT |
Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium |
B1G+ | Live Stats |
| Saturday, April 22 | Michigan | 1 pm CT | Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium | B1G+ | Live Stats |
| Sunday, April 23 | Michigan | 11 am CT | Alumni Field at Carol Hutchins Stadium | Big Ten Network | Live Stats |
| Social: Twitter: @NUSBcats | Instagram: @NUSBcats | |||||
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – After earning their third weekend sweep of the Big Ten season at Wisconsin last week, Northwestern heads to Michigan for a three-game series against the Wolverines.
Northwestern comes into this series riding an eight-game winning streak, its second-longest streak of the season having also won 10 games from March 18 to April 2. After starting the season 4-6, Northwestern has won 24 of its last 27 games, as well as 18 of its last 19 games. Dating back to last year, the Wildcats hold a Big Ten-best 32-5 record in conference play.
Entering the weekend, Northwestern is 13-1 and holds a three-game lead in the Big Ten standings. The Wildcats are looking to repeat as Big Ten champions for the first time since the 1986-87 season, when they won four-straight from 1984-87. The 'Cats are coming off a 2022 campaign that saw them go 19-4 en route to winning their eighth Big Ten title in program history and third under Kate Drohan and Caryl Drohan.
Northwestern won the last season series between the programs, as the 'Cats took two of three games from Michigan at Sharon J. Drysdale Field behind a pair of come-from-behind victories. The teams last faced off in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament semifinals which saw Michigan pull off a come-from-behind victory of its own in 2-1 fashion.
As a team, the Wildcats are boasting some of the top numbers in the conference on both sides of the plate against Big Ten competition. From a pitching standpoint, Northwestern's 37 runs allowed in 14 conference games (2.64 runs/gm) are the fewest in the Big Ten, while their 101 strikeouts and .213 opposing batting average are also the best marks in the conference. At the plate, the 'Cats lead the Big Ten with a .323 average, 21 stolen bases and 107 runs scored in Big Ten games this season.
Individually, Nikki Cuchran has emerged as the hottest hitter in the conference over the last month. Cuchran leads all Big Ten players with a .537 batting average, 22 hits, and .627 on-base percentage in conference play. Since the Big Ten season started on March 24th, Cuchran has raised her season average from .203 to .356.
Skyler Shellmyer led the 'Cats at the plate during the Wisconsin series, as she recorded a hit in each of Northwestern's three-games and led NU in hits (5), RBI (4), stolen bases (2) slugging percentage (.667) throughout the weekend including hitting the second home run of her career in Northwestern's 6-3 win on Saturday before also driving in the eventual game-winning run in the ninth inning of Saturday's twinbill. Shellmyer's 21 hits in conference play are the second most in the Big Ten (behind only Cuchran) and her 210 career hits rank 10th in Northwestern history, putting her within striking distance of the following Wildcat greats:
6. 226 JORDYN RUDD, 2019 -
7. 216 Erin Mobley, 2002-05
8. 215 Kelley Green, 1993-96
9. 213 Susan Harrelson, 1992-95
10. 210 SKYLER SHELLMYER, 2019 -
On Monday, Jordyn Rudd was selected by the USSSA Pride with the 24th overall pick in the Women's Professional Fastpitch draft, making her one of just two Big Ten players to be drafted. In addition to climbing the aforementioned all-time hits leaderboard, Rudd currently ranks fifth all-time in program history in career RBI (186), eight away from tying Marisa Bast (2011-14) for fourth place.
In the circle, Northwestern continues to impose its depth on teams with its well-rounded pitching staff. Lauren Boyd currently leads all Big Ten pitchers with a 0.71 ERA in conference games this season, while Danielle Williams is striking out 11.0 batters per seven innings in Big Ten play, the most in the conference and over 1.5 more batters than Autumn Pease's (Minnesota) second-place mark of 9.37. The 'Cats have three pitchers ranked in the Top-10 in the conference among opposing batting average in Big Ten games this season with Boyd (.191 average; 4th), Williams (.199 average; 5th) and Cami Henry (.230 average; 10th).
Northwestern is currently ranked No. 8 in the most recent NCAA RPI rankings, the highest in the Big Ten. The Wildcats lead the Big Ten with the 6th-toughest strength of schedule in the nation, while also boasting the 3rd-best non-conference strength of schedule rating in the country.
