Wildcats Earn Top-25 Win, Fall in Weekend Series vs. No. 19 Mississippi State

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern earned its second Top-25 win of the season on Saturday, picking up a 4-2 win over No. 19 Mississippi State, but dropped two of three games to the Bulldogs in a weekend series at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.

Lauren Boyd earned the win in Saturday's victory, throwing 127 pitches in what marked her fourth complete game of the season and the 13th of her career. Boyd faced 27 batters, striking out five and allowing just four hits and two runs. Boyd is now 5-0 with two saves, 34 strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA (10 ER/32.1 IP) in her last seven outings.

Kelsey Nader led the Wildcats at the plate for the third weekend in a row, reaching base in 7-of-9 plate appearances, good for a .778 on-base percentage. The Canton, Michigan native turned in two hit performances in each of the Wildcats' first two games, finishing the weekend going 4-for-6 at the plate while drawing a team-high three walks. Nader is now riding a 12-game reached base streak, during which she has raised her batting average .162 points up to .347 (25-for-72) on the season. Nader's .484 on-base percentage currently leads the team.

Kaylie Avvisato also finished the series with four hits, going 2-for-3 in both Saturday games while scoring a run in the first game and driving in a run in the second. Avvisato leads all Wildcats with nine multi-hit games through the first 25 games of the season. The first-year from Leesburg, Virginia is currently hovering just below a .400 batting average at .398 on the year (33-for-83) to go along with a team-best .590 slugging percentage. The last Wildcat to hit above .400 in a season was Northwestern Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Marisa Bast in 2012.

Isabel Cunnea was one of three Wildcats to record multiple hits in Friday's game, but it was game two of the series in which she proved to be the hero as she came through with a two-out bases-clearing triple (the first triple of her career) in the bottom of the first inning to give Northwestern a 3-0 lead. Cunnea finished the weekend with three hits, and is now hitting .372 (16-for-43) over the Wildcats' last four weekends.

Five different Wildcats (Nader x2, Avvisato x2, Nieto, Cunnea and Emma Raye) turned in multi-hit games over the course of the weekend. As a team, the Wildcats combined to hit .288 (19-for-66) in three games against the Bulldogs, and are now hitting .338 (62-for-183) over their last two weekends of action.

With its second win over a Top-25 opponent this season, Northwestern moves into the Top 50 in RPI, sitting at 41 as of Sunday. The Wildcats rank 24th in the country in strength of schedule and 5th in non-conference strength of schedule, having faced nine ranked opponents in 21 non-conference games.

The Wildcats are back at home this Wednesday for an in-state showdown against Northern Illinois at 4pm CT from Sharon J. Drysdale Field. This coming weekend, the 'Cats resume Big Ten play with a trip to Minnesota for a three-game series.

Wildcats Earn Top-25 Win, Fall in Weekend Series vs. No. 19 Mississippi State

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Team Stats

Grace Nieto

Kelsey Nader

Isabel Cunnea

Bridget Donahey

Players Mentioned

Kaylie Avvisato

Lauren Boyd

Isabel Cunnea

Kelsey Nader

Emma Raye

Northwestern University Athletics