2020 Softball Roster
Kenna Wilkey
- Height:
- 5-8
- Class:
- Junior
- High School:
- Reed Custer
- Hometown:
- Braidwood, Ill.
2020: In her season debut, pitched a two-hit shutout with six strikeouts in a 1-0 win against Seattle (2/7) ... Smashed a solo home run to help defeat No. 5 Florida State (2/15) … Allowed one hit and no earned runs over four innings of work against Virginia Tech (2/16).
2019: Made 16 starts and 11 relief appearances as a pitcher … Finished second on the team in innings (101.0) and strikeouts (98), and collected a 2.77 earned run average, 13th best in the Big Ten … Allowed just one hit over 4.0 scoreless innings while fanning seven batters, the most strikeouts by a Wildcats pitcher on opening day since 2015 … Picked up a win after throwing a complete game shutout with ... Picked up a win after throwing a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts against Utah (2/23) ... Pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, retiring all 11 batters she faced while striking out six and contributed a hit, an RBI and a run scored on the offensive side against Cal Poly (3/1) ... Recorded her second complete game shutout of the year, finishing with 10 strikeouts and two hits allowed, also reached base twice and collected an RBI at the plate against North Dakota State (3/2) ... Pitched a complete game against Grand Canyon (3/9), striking out seven and only allowing two runs to earn the win … Tossed a complete game at Nebraska (4/5), only allowing two runs while striking out seven to earn the win ... Secured another win with four innings pitched and just one run allowed against Notre Dame (4/9) ... Recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts and her 10th win of the season in a complete game against Michigan State (4/26) ... Also hit a two-run homer to help her cause.
2018: Appeared in 51 games with 50 starts, 20 times in the circle and 30 times as the designated player ... All-Big Ten Freshman team ... NFCA All-Region second team ... NU’s first 20-game winner since Lauren Delaney in 2009 ... Surpassed freshman win total of 19 achieved by Delaney in 2007, two-time All-American Eileen Canney in 2004 and All-American Courtnay Foster in 2003 ... Had personal 10-game winning streak from April 1-May 4 ... Smoked a three-run home run in her first-collegiate at-bat against San Diego State while fanning eight batters in 3.2 innings in her first start (2/9) d... Notched her first-career win with a complete-game four-hitter against Indiana (2/10) ... Finished 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs and a run in a win against South Dakota (2/11) ... Threw a complete-game two-hitter with 11 Ks while going 3-for-3 at the plate to beat NC State (2/17) ... Threw a scoreless eighth for a save against San Diego State (2/23) ... Fired a five-hit shutout with five Ks in a 6-0 win against Portland State (3/2) ... Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week March 12 after posting a 4-0 record and allowing ZERO runs in 20.2 innings at the Hilton Plaza Classic ... Started with a complete-game three-hit shutout of Penn State (3/9) ... Next came in with NU trailing PSU, 4-0, and tossed six HITLESS innings of relief to allow the Wildcats to earn a 6-4 win ... Also chucked 2.2 innings of scoreless relief for a win at Houston (3/10) ... Finished with 6.0 innings of relief while also hitting a two-run home run in a win against Lipscomb (3/11) ... Clubbed a solo homer at Indiana (3/17) ... Tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with four Ks to earn a save at Illinois (3/28) ... Threw 5.1 innings of one-run relief to allow NU to come back from a 5-0 deficit to defeat Nebraska 9-5 (4/1) ... Exploded at the plate for two three-run home runs, driving in six and scoring three times at Purdue (4/8) ... Also pitched 6.0 innings of relief in that game to earn a win ... Fired a pair of complete-game wins over No. 22 Ohio State (4/13, 4/15) ... Went the distance for the win at Notre Dame, allowing no earned runs (4/18) ... Crushed a two-run homer while throwing 3.0 scoreless innings for a win at Rutgers (4/20) ... Picked up two complete-game wins over Iowa (4/27, 4/29), going 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a double at the plate in the second game ... Was 2-for-4 with a double while tossing 3.0 innings for a save at DePaul (5/2) ... Ripped two singles at Wisconsin (5/4) ... Threw a complete-game, eight-inning three-hitter to defeat Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament (5/12) ... Doubled and drove in three in the championship game of the Big Ten Tourney against Minnesota (5/13) ... Had two hits including the game-winning RBI single in the eighth inning while throwing 3.1 scoreless innings of relief for the win in the opening round of the NCAA Athens Regional against California (5/18) ... Also got a win in relief versus Cal in an NCAA elimination game the next day (5/19).
High School: Two-sport star who entered her senior softball season with over 700 strikeouts in the circle and a better than .500 average at the plate … Also is a 1,000-point scorer in basketball in just three seasons … In softball, is a two-time all-state and all-conference selection … As a freshman pitcher in 2014, threw a shutout and drove in the game's only run to beat previously undefeated Monteno in tournament play … Led Reed Custer to the sectional title in 2014 and regional titles twice … Played five years of club with Beverly Bandits Premier, winning the 16u Boulder Independence Day Tournament in 2015 … Squad also won the 16u PGF national championship and 18u Surf City Classic in Huntington Beach, Calif. … In basketball, is a two-time all-conference, all-area and all-state award winner … Enters her senior year with 1,036 points, 582 rebounds and 194 steals from the post position … Once scored 30 points including a buzzer-beating winner in a triple-overtime victory to open the Interstate 8 Conference tournament … Has five combined academic all-conference honors between softball and basketball … Honor roll member for seven semesters … Ranked fifth in her entire Class of 2017.
Personal: Born Kenna Rae Wilkey … Daughter of Wayne (Tad) and Tracy Wilkey … Mother played college softball from 1988-91 … Played on the same club team as fellow Northwestern Class of 2021 members Mac Dunlap and Rachel Lewis … Helps coach middle school softball in her school system … Chose Northwestern over Ohio State, Illinois, Arizona State, Louisville, Illinois State, Syracuse and Seton Hall … Major is Human Communication Sciences.
