Call it fortunate or lucky, but today’s weather outlook for the NIU softball team improves somewhat from Monday’s mid-winter conditions.

Huskie head coach Dee Abrahamson and her squad face partly sunny skies with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 40s in today’s away game with Big Ten opponent Northwestern.

NIU brings a 21-4 record to Evanston to do battle with the Wildcats who sport a 6-13 ledger prior to an April 11 match-up with Illinois State University. The Huskies are coming off of a 2-1, 5-0 sweep of Western Illinois, which was played in near-freezing temperatures at NIU’s home away from home, McCormick Park.

The latest national rankings, which came out Tuesday evening, show the Huskies at No. 9. NIU had been ranked 12th two weeks ago when the team’s record was 16-1.

The Wildcats look to the offensive skill of catcher Kerry Muehlenbeck and the steady pitching of Nanci Clement. Muehlenbeck maintains a .364 batting average, while ace hurler Clement boasts a 3-5 record and a 1.05 earned run average.

Huskie highlights feature the deadly bat of All-American Jill Justin. The 5-5 senior’s statistics consist of a .436 batting average and 28 RBI. Justin was the NCAA’s batting champion last season with a .484 average and led the nation in doubles with 18.

Academic All-American pitcher Beth Schrader heads the Huskie pitching attack with her 12-1 record on an NIU staff that carries a 0.94 ERA. Joining Schrader as a key Huskie hurler is Kris Vandenhouten, who is undefeated in four appearances.

Abrahamson, now in her 10th year as head coach, does not see her team being at a disadvantage because of the weather.

“No other team can do any better. Were not losing any ground,” Abrahamson said in referencere to not being able to practice outside due to the poor weather.

Most of the teams the Huskies have been playing lately are from the Midwest, not giving any team an added advantage because of foul weather throughout the region.

NIU has faced two other Big Ten teams this year—Iowa and Indiana. The Huskies split with both teams earlier this year. Today’s game marks the last pre-Big Ten game for the Wildcats, who look to use NIU as a tune-up for intra-conference competition.