April 8, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- With exotic locales like Hawaii, Southern California and Florida having already played host to Northwestern, the Wildcats begin their first extended home stand this weekend in the unpredictable spring weather of Evanston, Ill. NU welcomes Big Ten foes Wisconsin and Minnesota to Sharon J. Drysdale field this weekend, followed by a nonconference tilt with cross-town rival Loyola Tuesday.
Northwestern's record currently stands at 17-11, 1-3 in the Big Ten after a midweek win at Northern Illinois. The Wildcats have won their last two games and their only other home contest of the season so far -- a March 30 win over UIC.
Junior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) continues to be NU's leader at the plate with a .361 average. Freshman Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita) paces the 'Cats' production with a .608 slugging percentage, 18 RBIs, nine doubles and four homeruns. Freshman Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) boasts Northwestern's best record in the circle (9-2) while sophomore Courtnay Foster (Tuscon, Ariz./Sahuaro) has whiffed 134 batters in 104.2 innings of work.
Northwestern will battle Wisconsin in a 3 p.m. game Friday and a noon contest Saturday. The Badgers enter the series 21-17 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten.
Kris Zacher, who hit a walk-off RBI single in Wisconsin's last game Wednesday against Loyola, leads the Badgers with a .342 average, 23 RBIs and a .500 slugging percentage. Eden Brock serves as the Wisconsin ace, compiling an 8-6 record with four shutouts and a 1.48 ERA, but Katie Layne has pitched the most innings from the circle en route to a 9-8 mark for the Badgers.
NU hosts the Golden Gophers (22-11, 3-1 Big Ten) at noon in an Easter Sunday doubleheader.
Minnesota is led by Meg Higginbotham, who paces the Gophers in batting average (.379), hits (39), doubles (6), triples (2), home runs (3), slugging percentage (.563) and on base percentage (.435). Senior Piper Martin, who recently recorded her 1,000th career strikeout, is 14-6 with a microscopic 0.61 ERA.
The home stand concludes with a single game at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Loyola (15-17).