Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
'Cats Welcome Michigan State for Weekend Series
4/16/2026 9:40:00 PM | Softball
ROSEMONT, Ill. – Northwestern returns home to resume Big Ten play this weekend, hosting Michigan State for a three-game series at The Ballpark at Rosemont. Friday's opener will now begin at 6 p.m. CT, followed by a 1 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday and a 6 p.m. CT finale on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast on B1G+.
Wednesday's scheduled midweek matchup at Notre Dame was canceled due to inclement weather conditions, with a makeup date to be determined.
Northwestern enters the weekend riding momentum from a dominant road sweep at Penn State, outscoring the Nittany Lions 38-9 across three games. The Wildcats hit .433 (39-for-90) as a team while limiting Penn State to a .143 mark (9-for-63), piling up 13 extra-base hits compared to just three allowed.
Every big swing from the weekend sweep ????
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) April 14, 2026
With the numbers behind them ???? pic.twitter.com/IhAbAfEDtb
Northwestern also went 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts at Penn State last weekend, with Emma Raye and Grace Nieto recording three stolen bases each. The Wildcats rank third in the Big Ten with 45 stolen bases, averaging 1.15 per game.
Northwestern has faced one of the top schedules in the country, with 14 of its 19 losses coming against ranked opponents. The Wildcats enter the weekend ranked 16th nationally in strength of schedule and 13th in non-conference strength of schedule.
Northwestern holds a 90-29 all-time record against Michigan State and has won 25 consecutive games in the series dating back to 2011. Last season, the Wildcats earned two wins over the Spartans during Big Ten opening weekend in Oklahoma City, winning 8-7 in extra innings and 9-2.
Fresh off capturing Big Ten Player of the Week honors for her performance in Happy Valley, Emma Raye leads Northwestern with a .396 batting average (12th in Big Ten), .500 on-base percentage (15th in Big Ten), and .766 slugging percentage (16th in Big Ten). In conference play, Raye is hitting .413 (19-for-46) with a .534 on-base percentage and is batting .556 (10-for-18) with runners in scoring position. Last weekend at Penn State, Raye reached base in 11 of 13 plate appearances (.846) with six RBI, seven runs scored, two home runs, and three stolen bases.
Big Ten Player of the Week ????
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) April 13, 2026
Emma Raye takes home the conference honors after a big weekend in Happy Valley!#GoCats | #BeRemarkable pic.twitter.com/h4eLAaAyMX
Kaylie Avvisato enters the weekend on a season-long eight-game hitting streak and a career-high 17-game reached base streak. She leads the team with 12 multi-RBI games this season, the most by a Wildcat since Jordyn Rudd (14) in 2023 and the most by an underclassman since Rudd recorded 12 in 2019. Last weekend at Penn State, Avvisato hit .538 (7-for-13) with three home runs, nine RBI, and seven runs scored, including a 4-for-5 performance with four RBI and four runs scored in Sunday's game.
Isabel Cunnea is hitting .343 (12-for-35) in conference play, the third-highest mark on the team. Last weekend at Penn State, Cunnea went 8-for-12 (.667) with seven RBI, including back-to-back 3-for-4 performances with three RBI on both Saturday and Sunday.
Grace Nieto has drawn 33 walks this season, ranking sixth in the Big Ten, and has scored a team-high 39 runs, averaging 1.00 per game. Nieto drew a career-high four walks (tied for third-most in single-game program history) in Saturday's win at Penn State and finished the weekend with a .692 on-base percentage and seven runs scored.
Marina Mason holds a 2.54 ERA (37 ER/102.0 IP), the top mark among first-year pitchers in the Big Ten and fifth among all conference pitchers. She ranks 30th nationally and third in the conference, allowing 4.87 hits per seven innings, and holds a .187 opposing batting average. Mason has taken her game to another level in Big Ten play, posting a 6-3 record in nine starts. Her 57 strikeouts against conference opponents is tied with Nebraska's Jordyn Frahm entering this weekend for second in the conference, trailing only Lyndsey Grein from Oregon (81). Mason has limited Big Ten hitters to a .177 opposing average in her 10 conference appearances, the fourth-best mark in the league trailing only Grein, Frahm and Nebraska's Alexis Jensen.
Following this weekend's series, Northwestern will travel to DeKalb for a midweek matchup against NIU on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT. The Wildcats will then travel to West Lafayette for a three-game series against Purdue next weekend.
