SCHEDULE UPDATE: Big Ten Stretch Run Begins Against Badgers

Friday, April 29

Madison, WI

3 p.m. CT

Northwestern

Wisconsin

SCHEDULE UPDATE: Big Ten Stretch Run Begins Against Badgers

4/28/2016 2:15:00 PM | Softball

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: at Wisconsin
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LISTEN ($)	LIVE STATS
Friday, April 29	Wisconsin	3 p.m. CT	Goodman Diamond	BTN	Studio N	Live Stats
Saturday, April 30	Wisconsin	11 a.m. CT	Goodman Diamond	BTN Plus on BTN2Go ($)	Studio N	Live Stats
Sunday, May 1	Wisconsin	1 p.m. CT	Goodman Diamond	BTN Plus on BTN2Go ($)	Studio N	Live Stats
Social: Twitter (@NUSBCats and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (nusbcats) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern

EVANSTON, Ill. -- After closing out a massive month-long homestand at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, Northwestern now hits the road for seven games to conclude the regular season, beginning with a three-game set April 29-May 1 at Wisconsin.

The Wildcats and Badgers open their series live on BTN at 3 p.m. Friday, April 29 before meeting against at 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday on BTN Plus. All games also will feature Northwestern's standard road game live audio via Studio N at NUsports.com. The 11 a.m. Saturday time is a change from the originally scheduled 2 p.m. CT start due to anticipated precipitation.

The Wildcats have come on strong in recent weeks, winning 10 of their last 13 games—meaning every contest against teams not named Nebraska. Northwestern currently is fifth in the Big Ten with a 10-7 record, just ahead of seventh-place Wisconsin and its 9-7-1 mark. NU's typically tough nonconference schedule (currently ranked as the 10th-toughest in the country) was followed by Big Ten-opening series at No. 2 Michigan and against No. 21 Minnesota. The Wildcats took games off both the Wolverines and the Gophers to help jump start their better record in the league.

On Wednesday, Northwestern defeated Loyola (Chicago) in run-rule fashion at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to close out a 13-game homestand, but more importantly the victory was the 500th in the careers of head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan. The duo has led the Northwestern program since the retirement of NFCA Hall of Fame coach Sharon J. Drysdale prior to the 2002 season. NU is the only school in the Big Ten and one of just a handful nationwide to have had two coaches reach 500 wins at the same school.

WATCH: @NUSBCats head coach @KateDrohan gets the #Gatorade shower after #B1GCats career win No. 500! https://t.co/IvePJbv2Rm
— #B1GCats (@NU_Sports) April 27, 2016

Senior Andrea Filler enters this weekend's series red hot at the plate after hitting home runs in four of her last six at-bats. Filler, who began the year on an 11-game hitting streak with extra-base hits in 10 of those games, is a streaky batter who seems to be on the upswing at the most opportune moment. Behind her in the lineup is Amy Letourneau, who is hitting .429 and slugging .929 in league play, while batting ahead of her is freshman Morgan Nelson, who is throwing her name into the Big Ten Freshman of the Year race with a .367 batting average and 21 RBIs in 17 conference games.

Northwestern benefitted last weekend from the return of senior Kristen Wood to the circle after a month's medical absence pre-dating the Big Ten-opening Michigan series. She picked up two of NU's three wins in a sweep of Michigan State. Prior to conference play, Wood had appeared in 12 games in 2016 and compiled a strong 1.94 ERA for the Wildcats.

Following this weekend's series in Madison, Northwestern returns to the Chicagoland area to face DePaul in Lincoln Park before concluding the regular season at Purdue. The 2016 Big Ten Tournament then is May 12-14 in University Park, Pa.

PROGRAMMING NOTE

LIVE BROADCASTS: Friday's game at Wisconsin will be broadcast live on BTN. Dean Linke and former Northwestern All-American Garland Cooper Tsarouchas have the call. Saturday and Sunday games will be available on BTN Plus.

LIVE AUDIO: Like most road games earlier in the year, longtime NU SID Doug Meffley will have live audio for all games of the series via Studio N at NUsports.com.

LIVE STATS: Live stats for every game can be found on the schedule page at NUsports.com, or by clicking here.

For more information on how to subscribe to Northwestern softball broadcasts, including a handy chart of stream availability, link to this release.

PLAY BALL!
For Northwestern's complete game notes package for the Wisconsin series, download the .pdf in the chart at the top of this release or click here.