With first baseman Garland Cooper and third baseman Kristen Amegin hitting back-to-back in the Northwestern lineup, softball coach Kate Drohan said, opposing pitchers must pick their poison.

“They’re both strong girls and they’re both very aggressive,” Drohan said. “They’re swinging at them hard.”

The dangerous duo helped the Wildcats (24-13, 7-5 Big Ten) paralyze conference foes Penn State (18-25, 4-6) and Ohio State (27-16, 4-6) en route to four straight road wins this weekend.

Amegin and Cooper hammered two long balls apiece during the weekend series, and are tied with a team-high seven home runs.

NU began the weekend on the road with a 4-1 victory against Penn State at Nittany Lion Field in University Park, Pa., on Friday.

Amegin led the Cats’ attack with her sixth home run of the season, and drove in all four NU runs.

With the Cats leading 1-0 in the third, center fielder Sheila McCorkle and Cooper were walked, and Amegin hit the deep ball to push NU’s lead to 4-0.

In the Cats’ second showdown against Penn State, Cooper hit a two-run, one-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh, making the score 2-0.

Amegin and Cooper were neck-and-neck in runs and RBI totals this weekend, but neither sees a Roger Maris-Mickey Mantle-like rivalry developing.

“It’s just great, and it’s not a rivalry,” Amegin said. “We’re helping each other.

“These runs are helping more for the team than for us. We give momentum to each other.”

In addition to NU’s Amegin-Cooper home run derby, Drohan said the second-game matchup between Penn State’s Shana Riggleman (4-2) and NU’s Courtnay Foster (10-11) was impressive.

Foster struck out 14 Penn State batters and scattered two hits.

It was Foster’s fifth shutout of the season and a season-high for the sophomore hurler.

“It was a classic Big Ten pitcher’s duel between Riggleman and Foster,” Drohan said. “Courtnay is tougher now, and with the confidence in the batter’s box, they feed off of each other.”

Foster said the team successfully gave her the run-support she has needed since the conference season began.

“The team is starting to get into a groove,” Foster said. “We’ve gotten our confidence back. We’re seeing the ball big, seeing it better.”

The Cats’ home run hot streak continued as they defeated the Buckeyes 5-3 in both games of a Sunday doubleheader at Buckeye Field in Columbus, Ohio.

In the first matchup against the Ohio State, Amegin hit a bomb over the scoreboard, tying Cooper at seven home runs.

“When she gets a hit I’m just as excited about her as she is excited about me,” Cooper said. “We’re working together. We feed off of each other.

“We’re good for each other.”

Drohan said her team had control of the second game after the first inning, and didn’t relinquish the lead such as they had done in preseason games.

“The team played hard, and they overcame a lot of challenges this weekend,” Drohan said. “I am very pleased with the energy and effort they put in.”