April 14, 2011
Northwestern's Iowa Series Game Notes (PDF Format) 
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's next Big Ten series comes this weekend, April 16-17, at Iowa, with Sunday's game being televised live in high definition on the Big Ten Network.
First pitch for Saturday's contest versus the Hawkeyes is slated for 2 p.m. CT while Sunday's first pitch has been moved up to 1 p.m. CT to accommodate the live television broadcast.
The Wildcats have split their last two Big Ten series, falling in the front end of doubleheaders versus Wisconsin and Michigan State before bouncing back to win the nightcap each time. Freshman hurler Sammy Albanese has picked up the win on each of those occasions, also contibuting a 2-for-3 effort at the plate in the victory over the Spartans.
Sophomore Emily Allard received some great news Wednesday when she was included on the Top-25 Finalist List for the 2011 USA Softball Player of the Year Award, given annually by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) of America. Allard is one of nine sophomores on the list and is one of seven who played their way into finalist status after not being included on the 50-member preseason watch list.
Allard ran her current hitting streak to 22 games with base knocks in both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader against Michigan State, leaving her two shy of the school record set in 2007 by Tammy Williams.
Also red hot at the plate at the moment is senior Jordan Wheeler, who has an eight-game hitting streak going right now. She is batting .417 (10-for-24) during the streak, raising her season average to a career-best .299, which is the fourth-best mark on the squad.
Junior Adrienne Monka, who leads the entire nation in walks per game and on-base percentage, took advantage of getting pitches to hit Wednesday against Michigan State. Monka finished the doubleheader 3-for-5 with three RBIs and a game-winning home run in the fifth inning of the second contest while receiving just a single base-on-balls. She now is batting .479 with a .915 slugging percentage in 71 official at-bats this year.
(For Northwestern's complete Iowa series game notes package, download the .pdf at the top of this page.
THE BROADCAST
Sunday, April 17: Veteran softball broadcaster Eric Collins has the play-by-play on the Big Ten Network. Heather Lyke is on color commentator duties.
SCHARK BYTES BLOG
Don't miss out on the best student-athlete blog on the internet today! Be sure to read sophomore Kristin Scharkey's Schark Bytes blog!
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