Feb. 14, 2007
Northwestern's Louisville Slugger Desert Classic Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 6 Northwestern continues its 2007 campaign this weekend with a stop in Las Vegas, Nev., for the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic hosted by UNLV. After facing four ranked opponents in their first tournament of the year, the Wildcats will face one in Vegas.
NU opens the schedule at 5 p.m. CT Friday, Feb. 16, with a game against Portland State before facing preseason Pacific Coast Softball Conference favorite Sacramento State at 10 p.m. CT.
On Saturday, the 'Cats take on No. 11 California at 2 p.m. CT before playing the host Rebels at 5 p.m. CT. NU's schedule concludes Sunday, Feb. 18, with an 11 a.m. CT game with Cal Poly. Gametracker will, without a doubt, be available for both of Saturday's games. It will not be available for the Friday or Sunday tilts.
Northwestern is coming off a 2-3 weekend at the Kajikawa Classic where it got wins against No. 8 Stanford and No. 21 Fresno State, while falling to No. 1 Arizona, No. 13 Texas A&M and Cal State Fullerton. Freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) picked up Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors after going 2-0 with a 1.24 ERA and 16 strikeouts, earning the wins over the Bulldogs and the Cardinal.
The Wildcats slipped two spots in the NFCA coaches poll, coming into the weekend at No. 6. The ranking marks the third-consecutive poll and the third-ever week NU has been in the top-10 in the polls.
Sophomore Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) had a strong opening weekend, batting .462 (6-for-13) with three runs scored and a double. Freshman Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) also rocked the house in her debut, blasting a solo home run and a double while earning hits in the final four games of the weekend, including a 2-for-4 performance against No. 1 Arizona.
For Northwestern's complete weekend preview notes package, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page. To visit the Desert Classic official tournament page, link to unlvrebels.com.