University Park, Pa. – Northwestern Softball resumes conference play with a three game series at Penn State, its first trip to Happy Valley since 2015, beginning this Friday.
The Wildcats and Nittany Lions will face off at 4 p.m. CT on Friday, 1 p.m. CT on Saturday and close the weekend at 10 a.m. CT on Sunday, with all three games airing on B1G+.
The conference foes have faced off 72 times in their history, with Northwestern holding the all-time edge at 56-16. The Wildcats have won the last 16 matchups between the two teams, but have not traveled to University Park since a 2015 sweep of the Nittany Lions. Penn State holds a 26-12 record and a 7-5 mark in conference play this season, most recently earning a three-game home sweep over Maryland.
Most recently, the Wildcats dropped a midweek matchup at DePaul, 9-5. Bridget Donahey led Northwestern on offense in the game by slugging two solo home runs, marking her third multi-homer game of the season. Donahey is the first Wildcat to have three multi-homer games in the same season since Rachel Lewis had four during her 2022 All-American campaign.
Donahey has provided the power for the ‘Cats of late, leading the team with six home runs in the last four weekends of play. Donahey also leads Northwestern with a .611 slugging percentage in Big Ten play to go along with eight RBI and a .306 average.
Junior catcher Emma Raye is leading the Wildcats in hitting so far this season with a .350 average, and also holds team-bests in RBI (35), slugging percentage (.690), and home runs (8). Raye has also delivered in the clutch for the Wildcats, hitting .435 (20-for-46) with runners in scoring position and .375 (12-for-32) with two outs. Raye enters this weekend’s games with a team-leading .900 slugging percentage and 24 RBI in the last four weekends of play.
First-year Marina Mason has led Northwestern in the circle so far this season, posting team-bests in ERA (2.47), innings pitched (90.2), and strikeouts (100). Mason has also racked up eight complete games, including five in her last eight appearances while holding opponents to a .161 batting average against. Last weekend, Mason fired seven shutout innings against Michigan while striking out eight.
Kaylie Avvisato leads Northwestern over the last four weekends of play, posting team-highs in average (.413) and doubles (7) to go along with 14 RBI and a .674 slugging percentage. Avvisato is tied with Kansas Robinson for highest average in Big Ten play (.316), and leads the team in doubles on the season with ten.
Following the conclusion of this weekend’s games, Northwestern travels to South Bend, Indiana for a midweek matchup with Notre Dame, before they return home to host Michigan State for three games at the Ballpark at Rosemont beginning on Friday, April 17.