Everything you need to know about Northwestern softball’s NCAA Tournament Quest

A tough draw but a major opportunity for the ‘Cats.

With the NCAA Tournament kicking off this weekend, mayhem is officially here. After bouncing out of the Big Ten Tournament’s quarterfinals to Indiana, Northwestern’s postseason journey takes a trip to Texas where the ‘Cats will play in the Austin Regional hosted by the tournament’s top-seeded Texas Longhorns. The Metro Atlantic Athletic champion Siena Saints and Northeast Conference champion Saint Francis (Pennsylvania) Red Flash will join the Wildcats and Longhorns in Austin. Here’s everything you need to know about Northwestern’s NCAA Tournament quest.

How did Northwestern get here?

After winning its third-consecutive Big Ten regular season title, cruising to a 19-3 record in conference play and 33-11 record overall, Northwestern secured its 22nd tournament berth in school history. Northwestern stumbled out to an 8-7 start. Hampered by cold bats and canceled games due to weather — especially against eventual regional-hosters Texas and Oklahoma State in February — the team took some time to find its footing.

Against conference opposition, Northwestern rebounded by winning all eight Big Ten series, including a sweep of the eventual conference-tournament champion Michigan Wolverines. Powered by Big Ten Coach of the Year Kate Drohan and Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Ashley Miller, the Wildcats caught fire in conference play. Northwestern also sported three First Team All-Big Ten honorees with Miller, Kansas Robinson and Kelsey Nader leading the way all season. Behind the plate, Emma Raye earned All-Defensive and All-Freshman team honors as the first-year catcher excelled in her debut season in Evanston.

How does the tournament work?

With the 64-team field set, Northwestern finds itself with as tough a draw as any team in the tournament. At 47-7, the No. 1 overall seed Texas Longhorns have only one loss all-season to an unranked opponent (Houston), while going a combined 3-2 against No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Tennessee.

The NCAA Tournament’s first weekend spans from Friday, May 17 through Sunday, May 19. The 64 team-field is split into 16 regionals, with each region hosted by a top-16 seed. Each group of four plays a double-elimination tournament that produces one winner that advances to the NCAA Super Regionals. Given the Longhorns’ talent, Northwestern will most likely need to shock Texas twice to advance, meaning potential losses to Siena and Saint Francis would make advancing even more improbable. Northwestern’s first game will be Friday afternoon against Saint Francis at 5:30 p.m. CST. With a win the Wildcats would play Saturday morning at 12 p.m. CST against the winner of Siena vs. Texas.

The 16 teams that advance from the regionals, play in the NCAA Super Regionals May 24-26. A pure best-of-three series between two teams, the super regionals are hosted by the higher-seeded school that advances out of each regional. If Northwestern escapes the Austin Regional, the winner of the Bryan-College Station Regional featuring No. 16 Texas A&M, Texas State, Penn State and UAlbany awaits. The winner of each super regional advances to the NCAA Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City May 30 to June 7. The eight teams that make it are split into two groups of four and play another double-elimination tournament, identical to the regionals. The two teams that remain will play in a best-of-three series for the right to be named national champions.

What’s Northwestern’s recent tournament history?

Participants in nine of the past 10 NCAA tournaments, Kate Drohan has instilled tournament pedigree into Northwestern’s culture. This year will mark her 17th appearance in the tournament in her 23 years at the helm. Northwestern has made the super regionals seven times with Drohan as its head coach, including three of the last four tournaments and each of the last two years. The Drohans have also led the Wildcats to three Women’s College World Series berths. The last time the ‘Cats made it that far was in 2022, where they lost to No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 5 UCLA.

The ‘Cats have traveled to Austin for postseason softball before, with Northwestern upsetting No. 6 Texas 2-0 in the 2012 Austin Regional’s opening round before losing to the Longhorns twice on Sunday to be eliminated.

Last season, Northwestern entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 12 seed. The ‘Cats beat Eastern Illinois 2-0, Kentucky 10-8 and Miami (OH) 5-4 in the Evanston Regional to advance to the Tuscaloosa Super Regional. After beating No. 5 Alabama 3-1 in Game 1, the ‘Cats dropped Game 2 2-1 and Game 3 3-2, coming up just short of Women’s College World Series berths in back-to-back seasons.

What are the major storylines to watch?

Here are some of the biggest things to watch out for as the ‘Cats look to make noise in postseason play:

Northwestern’s pitching: Northwestern’s biggest strength all season was its pitching. Anchored by Miller’s dominant 1.33 ERA (11th best in the nation), Renae Cunningham, Riley Grudzielanek and Cami Henry all played meaningful roles in key spots for the Wildcats. However, with Ashley Miller’s recent struggles, notably an inability to find the strike zone and a large uptick in walks allowed over her last eight appearances, Northwestern’s strong suit isn’t bulletproof. Just look at the ace’s fifth inning in the conference tournament, where she allowed two runs on four walks, and had a throwing error despite allowing no hits against Indiana. Who starts on Friday? How do the ‘Cats manage Miller’s struggles? How much do we see Northwestern rely on the first-years Grudzielanek and Cunningham?

Kansas Robinson’s “slump”: At the top of the lineup, Robinson has struggled to mirror her early season success since the start of Northwestern’s home series against Michigan. Her batting average since then sits at .268, compared to .488 in the 27 games prior. Similarly, her on base percentage, slugging and efficiency have seen a major dip. In the leadoff spot, Robinson sets the tone, but with her recent struggles, she hasn’t been as effective as we’re used to seeing. Against the top team in the country, Northwestern needs the best version of Robinson to show up if it wants a chance to shock the softball world.

Experience: After losing key starters like Danielle Williams, Skyler Shellmyer, Jordyn Rudd, Maeve Nelson and Nikki Cuchran, not to mention Lauren Boyd and Grace Nieto who have been unavailable all season long, Northwestern lost tons of tournament experience on the field. Led by Angela Zedak and Hannah Cady, the ‘Cats certainly still have experience playing big postseason games after their recent tournament runs. However, in the circle and in the lower half of the lineup, that experience is lacking. Miller has never played NCAA Tournament softball while this will be uncharted territory for Grudzielanek and Cunningham. In the five, seven and eight holes, first-years Emma Raye, Isabel Cunnea and Ainsley Muno will be playing in the biggest games of their young careers. How will Northwestern’s youngsters manage the pressure?

No. 1 Texas: With Texas unlikely to drop games to Siena or Saint Francis, Northwestern likely needs to beat the Longhorns twice. Despite the brutal draw, if the ‘Cats can pull off the upset, they set themselves up nicely for a deep postseason run. But the Longhorns are the real deal. At the plate, Texas has Big 12 Player of the Year Reese Atwood, who hit 22 home runs and a nation-leading 86 RBIs. In the circle, the Longhorns have All-Big 12 First Team duo Citlaly Gutierrez and Teagan Kavan. Texas sports the nation’s best batting average (.383) and second-highest scoring offense (8.26 runs per game), while also ranking seventh in earned run average (1.80). All nine lineup-regulars are batting at least .348 with a .420 on base percentage. A pretty tall task awaits Kate Drohan’s squad to say the least.