No. 12 Northwestern (36-11, 20-3 Big Ten) will open the first round of the NCAA regional tournament against Eastern Illinois (34-19, 16-6 Ohio Valley) this Friday. NU is 8-2 in franchise history against the Ohio Valley Conference champions, whom it hasn’t met on the diamond since 1998. This is the Cats’ second straight year hosting.
After defeating Rutgers in last weekend’s series , No. 19 Northwestern won its second consecutive outright Big Ten regular-season championship. The Wildcats (35-11, 20-3 Big Ten) will compete in the conference tournament this weekend, looking to win its first Big Ten Tournament title since 2008. Top-seeded NU’s first matchup will take place Thursday against Iowa..
The Sooners have a trio of elite pitchers, while Northwestern has relied on Danielle Williams to fire the Wildcats into the Women s College World Series.