April 24, 2003
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EVANSTON, Ill. - With just two weekends remaining in the conference season, it's getting to be do or die time for teams to wrap up berths in the Big Ten tournament. Currently in seventh place and on the outside looking in, the Northwestern softball team makes the trek to Iowa this weekend to take on the first-place Hawkeyes. The teams open their series with a 6 p.m. game Friday, before wrapping up the two-game set at noon Saturday.
Northwestern holds a slim 39-38 series lead over the Hawkeyes, but has lost five of the last six meetings, including both games a year ago in Evanston, 4-3 and 8-3.
Scouting Iowa
After starting the season 2-5, the Hawkeyes then won 23 of their next 24 games. Iowa currently leads the Big Ten with an 11-2 record after taking two games from both Indiana and Purdue last weekend. Lisa Birocci fired a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over Indiana Sunday. She is currently 19-6 with a 1.02 ERA. Ali Arnold has been equally impressive on the mound, sporting a 13-4 record and a 0.93 ERA. Senior Kristin Johnson leads the Hawkeyes with a .389 batting average and seven home runs. She ranks third in the Big Ten with 21 stolen bases. Christi Schmaltz leads the conference with eight triples and the team with 33 RBI.
Head Coach Kate Drohan
Kate Drohan is in her second season as the head coach of the Wildcats. In her first season at the helm, Drohan led Northwestern to a 24-18-1 record and a 10-9 mark in the Big Ten. It was NU's fifth consecutive season with 20 or more victories. The team finished tied for fifth in the conference, and missed out on a berth in the Big Ten Tournament due to a lost tiebreaker. Prior to becoming head coach, Drohan served as an assistant under longtime coach Sharon Drysdale for four seasons. Assistant coaches Alicia Smith and Caryl Drohan, Kate's twin sister, are in their third and second seasons with NU, respectively.
'Cat Nips
* In freshman pitcher Courtnay Foster's eight losses this season, Northwestern has scored a combined six runs in those eight games.
* NU entered its doubleheader against Minnesota Sunday having allowed just six runs all season in the second inning of its games. All four of the Golden Gophers' runs in the twinbill were scored in the second inning. Each of the four runs were unearned.
* Sophomore Erin Mobley recorded three doubles last week, increasing her team-high total to 11. The Northwestern single-season record for doubles is 13, a mark held by six individuals. Junior Carri Leto most recently accomplished the feat last season.
* Northwestern is 21-1 this season when it scores first.
* Following their doubleheader sweep of Loyola-Chicago Wednesday, the Wildcats are 6-0 this season against in-state competition. NU has defeated Illinois-Chicago and Loyola twice and Bradley and Illinois State once apiece. The 'Cats also have two games scheduled later this season against both DePaul and Illinois. Northwestern had a game against Northern Illinois scheduled for April 9 canceled due to inclement weather.
Foster Climbs the Charts
Freshman pitcher Courtnay Foster continues to climb the ranks of the NU record book this season. With two saves last week, Foster increased her season total to four. She is the current Big Ten leader in the category, and is just one save shy of tying the Northwestern single-season record. Nancy Clement recorded five saves during the 1987 season. Clement also holds the career saves record of seven. Foster's 16 strikeouts against Wisconsin last Friday were a career high. It was the most strikeouts in a game by a Wildcat pitcher since Jaclyn Deboard struck out 17 Morehead State batters on Feb. 28, 1998. Foster has 188 strikeouts this season, the seventh-highest single-season total in team history. Her average of 9.10 strikeouts per seven innings continues to rank as the second-highest single-season mark in school history.
Wildcats Among Big Ten Leaders
A number of Northwestern players rank among the top 10 in the Big Ten in various statistical categories as of April 21. Courtnay Foster ranks first in saves (4), second in batters struck out looking (63), fourth in overall striketouts (188) and fifth in opponents' batting average (.184). Erin Mobley is third in triples (4), tied for fourth in sacrifice bunts (11), sixth in batting average (.366), tied for sixth in doubles (11) and ninth in total bases (76). Brett Nakabayashi is seventh in hits (50), eighth in batting average (.362) and ninth in on-base percentage (.421). Carri Leto ranks second in both triples (5) and sacrifice flies (4), while Jessie Wellnitz is tied for tied for eighth with 13 stolen bases. Lauren Schwendimann ranks ninth with an opponents' batting average of .201.
'Cats Earn Recognition in National Polls
Northwestern has been ranked as high as 22nd in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 poll this season. This season represents NU's first top 25 appearance in a national poll since 1995. NU has also received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, reaching a ranking as high as 27th. The Wildcats are not receiving votes in either poll this week.
Tough Road Ahead
The Wildcats have faced one of the most challenging schedules in the country this season. NU will encounter at least 13 different opponents and 20 total games against teams that are ranked in the top 25 or are receiving votes in the NFCA/USA Today Coaches Poll. Included on the schedule are five of the top 10 ranked teams in the current poll.
Team Captains
Seniors Lauren Schwendimann and Jessie Wellnitz and junior Carri Leto are the team captains for the 2003 season. Schwendimann, a pitcher, earned second-team NFCA All-Region honors in 2002 as a utility player. Wellnitz appeared in 37 games in the outfield last season without committing an error. Leto earned second-team All-Big Ten honors at shortstop for the Wildcats last season.
Next Time Out
The Wildcats host a doubleheader with No. 6/7 DePaul beginning at 3 p.m. next Wednesday. Northwestern then wraps up the regular season on Saturday and Sunday when it welcomes Illinois for single games each day.