April 14, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- On its spring break trip to Hawaii, Northwestern touched down in Honolulu, Hawaii, roughly 14 hours after leaving Evanston, Ill. On Thursday the Wildcats will begin a road trip of equal length -- at least in terms of hours -- when they turn the bus onto the highway for road games at Penn State and Ohio State this weekend.
NU takes on Penn State beginning with a 5 p.m. Central time contest Friday in State College, Pa., and again at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday. The 'Cats will then load the bus and drive to Columbus, Ohio for an 11 a.m. Central doubleheader Sunday with the Buckeyes.
Northwestern is coming off a 3-2 week which pushed its overall record to 20-13, 3-5 in the Big Ten. Freshman Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) went 3-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs in NU's 6-3 victory Tuesday over nonconference opponent Loyola. During the week she took the team-lead in batting average (.367) and pushed her season slugging percentage to .644.
Sophomore Kristen Amegin (W. Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) also had a strong week, batting .364 with a .563 on-base percentage and a .909 slugging percentage. She has drawn 25 walks so far this year, only three away from the NU single-season record for free passes.
Freshman Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) earned her sixth and seventh shutouts of the season last week, blanking both Wisconsin and Minnesota by scores of 4-0. Her overall record now stands at 11-2.
Penn State comes into its matchup with Northwestern at 16-23 overall, 2-4 in the Big Ten. Leigh Murray is the big Nittany Lion stick, leading PSU with five home runs, 15 RBIs and a .482 slugging percentage. Missy Beseres paces Penn State from the circle with a 1.91 ERA and 139 strikeouts. PSU has lost its last two contests, both shutouts at the hands of No. 9 Michigan.
Ohio State enters the weekend 23-14, 2-4 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes were swept last weekend by arch-rival Michigan in their most recent action. Ashley Cutcliff leads OSU at the plate with a .408 average and a .653 slugging percentage while Jamee Juarez has knocked in 28 runs. Juarez, along with Kristi DeVries, has also led the Buckeyes in the circle with an ERA under two.
Following its extended bus tour through Big Ten country, Northwestern returns home to host Notre Dame Tuesday in a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The Fighting Irish received votes in both major polls this week and currently stand at 32-12 overall, most recently knocking off No. 18 Nebraska.