Coralville, Iowa, native Fran Strub (center) is excited to host the Wildcats as NU takes on Iowa this weekend!
| 2015 Northwestern Softball -- Iowa Series |
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| Game Notes | Northwestern's Weekly Release |
| Game One: Northwestern (25-19, 12-7 B1G) at Iowa (16-37, 7-13 B1G) |
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| Date | Friday, May 1 | 6 p.m. CT |
| Location | Pearl Field | Iowa City, Iowa |
| Live Coverage | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE  |
| Game Two: Northwestern (25-19, 12-7 B1G) at Iowa (16-37, 7-13 B1G) |
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| Date | Saturday, May 2 | 2 p.m. CT |
| Location | Pearl Field | Iowa City, Iowa |
| Live Coverage | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE |
| Game Three: Northwestern (25-19, 12-7 B1G) at Iowa (16-37, 7-13 B1G) |
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| Date | Sunday, May 3 | 1 p.m. CT |
| Location | Pearl Field | Iowa City, Iowa |
| Live Coverage | BTN Plus on BTN2Go | Gametracker | @NU_SportsLIVE |
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern travels to Iowa this weekend, May 1-3, for the final Big Ten series of 2015, and much is on the line. The Wildcats currently are fifth in the Big Ten with a 12-7 record, just a half game behind Illinois for fourth in the league. The fourth-place team after this weekend's games receives a bye into the quarterfinals of the 2015 Big Ten Tournament next week in Columbus, Ohio.
This weekend's games in Iowa City are set to be streamed live on BTN Plus on BTN2Go, and live Northwestern audio also will be available at NUsports.com. First pitch Friday is at 6 p.m. CT with a 2 p.m. CT start on Saturday and a 1 p.m. CT go time on Sunday.
Northwestern is coming off a 2-1 series win against Ohio State and a resounding run-rule victory over DePaul in the last week, scoring at least nine runs in all four games. Junior Andrea Filler was named the Big Ten Player of the Week on Monday after she hit .643 while compiling 12 RBIs in series against Illinois (an April 22 doubleheader) and OSU, giving her 56 total RBIs for the season to rank second overall in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation with 1.30 per game.
.@NUSBCats win 6th @B1GSoftball weekly nod of 2015! @AndreaFiller is #B1G Player of the Week! http://t.co/pQ3GnPuZFf pic.twitter.com/sLxXdG5JEn
-- #B1GCats (@NU_Sports) April 27, 2015
Meanwhile, freshman Sabrina Rabin continues to make her freshman season better and better. She currently leads the Big Ten in runs scored (28) and stolen bases (15) while ranking fourth in hits (30) and sixth in batting (.441) with three games to go. Rabin had three multi-hit games last week to give her an even 20 on the year, raising her overall batting average to .401.
Senior Andrea DiPrima enters this weekend's series on a nine-game hitting streak after putting together a 17-gamer earlier in the year. Her two-run home run Wednesday against DePaul gave her 10 on the year after she entered her senior season with just four-career round-trippers.
Northwestern pitcher Kristen Wood went 3-0 in the circle last week, winning a pair of games against Ohio State before tossing a two-hitter with eight strikeouts in a 5.0-inning run-rule win versus DePaul Wednesday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The Blue Demons' only run came on a first-inning solo homer, after which Wood allowed just one more hit and no more runs the rest of the way to move to 14-8 on the year and reach 201 strikeouts. Wood now has two 200+ strikeout seasons for NU, the 16th and 17th such campaigns in Wildcats' history.
Iowa comes into this series with a 7-13 Big Ten record after dropping three run-rule decisions to power Minnesota in Minneapolis. Prior to that series, however, the Hawkeyes hooked up with the Boilermakers and their talented pitching and won the series, 2-1, in West Lafayette. Earlier in the year, Iowa handed No. 3 Michigan one of the Wolverines' two in-conference losses with a 6-4 win on getaway day of that series.
PLAY BALL!
For a complete preview and notes on this weekend's Iowa series, download the Northwestern weekly release available in the chart at the top of this page.
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