Junior Meghan Lamberth emerged as a go-to in the circle last weekend at the Cathedral City Classic.Junior Meghan Lamberth emerged as a go-to in the circle last weekend at the Cathedral City Classic.

Northwestern Returns to California for DeMarini Invitational

Feb. 29, 2012

Northwestern's DeMarini Invitational Game Notes (PDF Format) Get Acrobat Reader

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern concludes the opening portion of its schedule March 2-4 at the DeMarini Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton, NU's fourth tournament in four weekends.

The Wildcats open the DeMarini at 3:30 p.m. CT (1:30 p.m. PT) against No. 11 Stanford before taking on Oregon State at 8 p.m. CT (6 p.m. PT). On Saturday, Northwestern squares off with No. 2 California at 1:15 p.m. CT (11:15 a.m. PT) prior to a 3:30 p.m. CT (1:30 p.m. PT) tilt with East Carolina. Northwestern's tournament concludes with an 11 a.m. CT (9 a.m. PT) game against Southern Mississippi.

Northwestern is making its seventh trip to the DeMarini Invitational (formerly the Worth Invitational) under 11th-year head coach Kate Drohan. The Wildcats are 19-8 all-time at the event, including 12-2 over the last three appearances and 5-0 one year ago.

The Wildcats will face two more ranked opponents this weekend, meaning NU will have taken on 10 opponents ranked in one of the two top-25 polls at the time of the game through its first 18 contests this year.

Freshman Olivia Duehr enters the DeMarini Invitational as the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week after cranking out a .417 batting average with two home runs and eight RBIs at last weekend's Cathedral City Classic. She is tied with Marisa Bast for the team lead in RBIs so far this year with 14.

Speaking of Bast, she blasted her way to a .563 average in Cathedral City, also knocking in eight with the help of her first two career triples and a three-run home run in a win over No. 11 Missouri. Bast is second on the team with a .395 average this year.

In the circle, junior Meghan Lamberth is coming off a 2-0 weekend that saw a pair of complete-game victories. She first established a career high for Ks against Colorado State before shutting down No. 11 Missouri, 7-1.

For Northwestern's complete DeMarini Invitational game notes package, download the .pdf at the top of this page.

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