April 21, 2006

Northwestern's Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 16 Northwestern takes its Big Ten lead on the road this weekend for just one series, heading north to Minnesota for a Sunday doubleheader against the Golden Gophers.

The Wildcats have the Big Ten's open date for the Friday/Saturday portion of the schedule, and will begin their only contests of the weekend at noon CT in Minneapolis.

Northwestern is beginning a four-series road swing to close out the conference schedule. The Wildcats will face Michigan State and Michigan away from Evanston next weekend before concluding the regular-season slate May 5-6 at downstate rival Illinois.

Leaving the familiar dirt of Sharon J. Drysdale Field behind may be bittersweet for the 'Cats, who went a perfect 10-0 in home contests this year, outscoring their opponents 84-9. NU belted 21 home runs, averaging more than two per game. In the circle, senior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) and junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) compiled an ERA of 0.69 with five shutouts at home.

The Wildcats (9-2 in the conference) hold a slim lead over Michigan State (8-2), Ohio State (8-2) and Michigan (6-2) entering this weekend. Minnesota currently is last in the Big Ten with a 1-11 conference mark.

Northwestern boasts the reigning Big Ten Pitcher and Player of the Week in Canney and junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic). Cooper has won three of the last six conference Player of the Week honors.

Senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) enters this weekend with a four-game hitting streak to push her average back up over .300. She notched a walk-off, RBI single in the bottom of the seventh in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Notre Dame on national television.

For Northwestern's complete season game notes and series preview, click on the .pdf link at the top of this page.