'Cats Open Big Ten Play with Home Series vs. Spartans

NORTHWESTERN SOFTBALL: GAME INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	WATCH	LIVE STATS
Friday, March 25	Michigan State	12 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Friday, March 25	Michigan State	2:30 p.m. CT	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Saturday, March 26	Michigan State	1 p.m. CT* (weather-dependent)	Sharon J. Drysdale Field	B1G+	Live Stats
Social: Twitter: @NUSBcats \| Instagram: @NUSBcats

EVANSTON, Ill. – After 23 games on the road to open the season, Northwestern returns home to Sharon J. Drysdale Field to kick off its Big Ten season with a three-game series against Michigan State.

Due to inclement weather in the forecast, the Wildcats are now slated to play a Friday doubleheader against the Spartans beginning at 12 pm CT. Game three is scheduled for Saturday at 1 pm, with the possibility of an additional adjustment due to the forecast.

The Wildcats enter this weekend with a Big Ten-leading 19-4 record on the season, the best start to a season through 23 games in the Drohan era (since 2002). With back-to-back weekend sweeps in tournaments at Southern Illinois and Missouri, the Wildcats have now won nine-straight games, matching their longest winning streak from last season when they opened the 2021 campaign 9-0. The last time the Wildcats won at least 10-straight games was in 2019, when they posted a 20-game winning streak from March 29 to May 3.

Danielle Williams had herself quite the three-day stretch last week, throwing the second no-hitter of her career vs. Stanford on Sunday (which also happened to be her birthday), then taking home Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Monday, followed by winning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. Williams has been holding opponents to a Big Ten-best .139 opposing batting average this season. Her 131 strikeouts also rank second in the Big Ten, along with her six shutouts on the season.

Nikki Cuchran enters the weekend leading the team with a .394 batting average and 25 RBI. Cuchran led the Wildcats last weekend with 10 RBI and seven hits in four games, including a career-high five RBI in a run-rule victory over Ball State as well as the eventual game-winning RBI in the 10th inning at #18 Missouri.

Rachel Lewis currently leads the team with a .743 slugging percentage and .467 on-base percentage, as well as eight home runs. The fifth-year graduate student from Liberty Township, Ohio homered twice in the 'Cats extra-inning win at #18 Missouri last Saturday, marking the 50th home run of her career. She joins an exclusive list of just five Wildcats to ever hit 50 career home runs.

Northwestern leads the all-time series vs. Michigan State, 82-29, and have won 27 of their last 28 against the Spartans. Because of the schedule change and complexities, some promotions have been updated for the weekend. Click here to view the most updated information.

'Cats Open Big Ten Play with Home Series vs. Spartans

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Players Mentioned

Nikki Cuchran

Rachel Lewis

Danielle Williams

Northwestern University Athletics