April 14, 2005
Northwestern Game Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Off to the best Big Ten start in school history, No. 16 Northwestern takes its 8-0 League mark to the state of Indiana this weekend to face the Hoosiers and Purdue.
Northwestern jumped two spots in the NFCA/USA Today coaches poll this week to No. 16, pushing even higher its best-ever ranking in a national poll. NU is currently No. 17 in the ESPN/USA Softball rankings.
Freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) picked up her second Big Ten Player of the Week honor last week after batting 12-for-15 in NU's sweeps of Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In Indiana, the Wildcats face a team struggling at the plate. As a team, IU is batting .225 with 90 runs scored, an average of just 2.3 runs per game. Tory Yamaguchi leads the Hoosiers with a .286 batting average and six home runs. Megan Roark has been a pretty solid ace for Indiana, carrying a 2.45 ERA with four shutouts and 182 strikeouts in 180 innings of work into the weekend.
In a league where No. 1 Michigan and NU have been making most of the noise, Purdue is quietly putting together a pretty darn good season. The Boilers currently sit in third place with a 5-1 record. Andrea Hillsey leads Purdue with a .400 average while DaQueta Johnson has 31 RBIs. Diana LaRiva leads the pitching staff with a 1.57 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 93.1 innings.
Game Facts
IU Softball Complex, Bloomington, Ind.
Fri., April 15, 2005, 3 p.m. CT
Northwestern at Indiana (12-27, 2-4)
Sat., April 16, 2005, Noon CT
Northwestern at Indiana
Varsity Softball Complex, West Lafayette, Ind.
Sun., April 17, 2005, Noon/2:30 p.m. CT
Northwestern at Purdue (28-13, 5-1)
The Series
Series With Indiana: Northwestern leads, 47-35
Last Result: 5-4, Indiana (April 24, 2004 in Evanston, Ill.)
Series Streak: 1, Indiana
Series With Purdue: Tied, 14-14
Last Result: 13-3 (6), Northwestern (April 25, 2004 in Evanston, Ill.)
Series Streak: 3, Northwestern