Feb. 27, 2008
Northwestern's Coach B Classic Game Notes (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After road tripping west for its first two tournaments to open the season, No. 6 Northwestern will stay in the state of Illinois this weekend for the Coach B Classic hosted by Southern Illinois.
The Wildcats will play four games at the tournament, opening at 2 p.m. CT Saturday, March 1 against Kansas before taking on Bradley at 6 p.m. CT Saturday night. Sunday's action features a 1 p.m. CT tilt versus Western Illinois before NU faces tourney host Southern Illinois at 3 p.m. CT.
To visit the official Coach B Classic tournament page, link to SIUSalukis.com.
Northwestern is making its first trip to the Coach B Classic (formerly the Southern Classic) since 1996, when all but one game against Eastern Illinois was canceled by weather. The forecast for this weekend is shaping up nicely thus far, with temperatures in the 50's expected both Saturday and Sunday.
This tournament will be the first of the season for NU without at least two ranked teams on the schedule. However, both Kansas (12-4) and Southern Illinois (9-4) are receiving votes in the most recent USA Today/NFCA coaches poll.
Junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) has continued her red-hot start to the season, entering the weekend with a .655 batting average (19-for-29) and a team-high 10 runs scored. Fellow USA Softball Player of the Year watch list member Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) also has 10 runs scored along with a team-high 12 RBIs and a .323 batting average.
Sophomore Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Osceola) took a big step toward becoming one of the premier aces in the country last week, firing her second-career no-hitter with a career-high 17 strikeouts against Oregon at the Palm Springs Classic. So far this year, Delaney has wins over No. 1 Arizona, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 6 LSU and No. 25 Texas.
For Northwestern's complete game notes package for the Coach B Classic, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page.