I think it’s time to rank the ‘Cats.
Another week of softball is in the books and Northwestern kept up its winning ways, completing a perfect 4-0 week with a Tuesday 8-0 win at Illinois before a weekend sweep of Maryland. Now sitting at 26-8 (12-1 B1G), the ‘Cats have won 18 of their last 19 and continue to impress with a young squad. Here are five things to know from this week’s slate of games:
1. Power surge
During Northwestern’s recent streak, it’s looked like the team has all taken Mario power-up mushrooms with the way balls have been sailing over the outfield fence. The team leads the Big Ten with 28 home runs in 13 games of conference play, and across four games this week, the team hit 10 long-balls. Home runs accounted for two-thirds of Northwestern’s total run production across the week’s slate.
Most notably, Angela Zedak was responsible for three of those jacks, and she did it all in one night. Her trio of home runs against Illinois on Tuesday tied Northwestern and Big Ten records for single-game homers and set the NU record for total bases in a single game. But she wasn’t the only one supplying the muscle for the offense. Over the weekend, Kansas Robinson, Kelsey Nader, Hannah Cady, Emma Raye, Bridget Donahey, Izzy Cunnea and Ainsley Muno all added homers of their own.
If you read that list and thought, “wow, that’s a lot of names,” it’s probably because it is — eight of Northwestern’s nine starters got to make a trot around the bases at some point this week. And for the one who didn’t…
2. Ayana Lindsey, sneaky key to Northwestern’s winning
Ayana Lindsey may not be hitting dingers, but that shouldn’t discount how crucial she’s been to this team for the past several weeks. Aside from providing game-in, game-out stellar play in center field, Lindsey has become an on-base machine. She’s hitting an above-average .321 in conference play, but it’s her ridiculous .487 on-base percentage in Big Ten play that jumps off the page.
Lindsey reached base seven times across the quartet of games and came up clutch in Friday’s 5-4 victory over Maryland. Leading 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Lindsey zipped a double down the third base line that allowed Grace Minarovic to come from first to home and score, extending Northwestern’s lead. Maryland tacked on two in the top of the seventh, but it was Lindsey’s insurance run that gave Northwestern the cushion to still escape with the win.
Lindsey’s knack for getting on base has been so crucial, especially with Kansas Robinson hitting leadoff. Usually, a power-hitter like Robinson would be slotted in at the three or four spot in the lineup, but Drohan made the change after the NC State loss when the staff decided it was awfully tough for a pitcher to have to start a game when they have to worry about the very first batter taking them yard (like she did last weekend against Michigan). But the recent emergence of Linsey (along with Ainsley Muno) at the bottom of the lineup has allowed Northwestern’s superstar second baseman to still have plenty of RBI opportunities. Robinson leads the team with 30 RBIs and the team is 18-2 since she moved into the leadoff spot, in large part due to Lindsey’s breakout.
3. Winning in weird ways
One facet of great teams is that they can win in a multitude of ways. And this Northwestern team has embodied that. In Tuesday and Saturday’s matchups, they put on good ole’ fashioned blowouts thanks to the offense. In Friday’s win, the ‘Cats were outhit on the day but held on with defense and timely hitting. Sunday’s game was a classic pitcher’s duel, and Northwestern eked out a win in that one too.
And it’s not just how this team has won that’s been impressive. It’s also been who this team has won against. After chasing out Michigan’s star pitcher Lauren Derkowski early in last Friday’s game, Northwestern’s offense did the same to Maryland’s star Courtney Wyche on Saturday. Wyche and Derkowski rank one and two in strikeouts in the conference, making it clear that this team finds a way to get it done, regardless of opponent.
4. Cady heating up?
It’s been no secret this season that Hannah Cady has been up-and-down. In her senior season, the third baseman’s average is down from .285 to .237 and she’s only batting .184 in conference play. But the final two contests of the weekend gave reason to believe that Cady may be turning a corner.
In Saturday’s game, Cady jumped in on the homer party, uncorking one of Wyche’s pitches and starting some positive momentum. She carried that into Sunday, sending a first-inning pitch into right-center field for a two-run double that would be Northwestern’s only score of the day.
Before the weekend series, Kate Drohan was adamant that nothing was wrong with Cady’s swing, and this weekend, she was proven right. Now it’s about continuing this positive stretch into the rest of the season — a development which would be massive for Northwestern’s offense considering Cady’s designation as the cleanup hitter. Few hitters in the country are better situated for RBI opportunities than Cady with Robinson, Nader and Zedak batting ahead of her.
5. RISP struggles
I know Northwestern is on a heater right now as winners of 18 of its last 19, but to sit here and pretend like everything is all roses, all the time, would be naive. And the thorn in this week’s set of games was the offense’s sudden icy streak with runners in scoring position.
For a team that’s usually been great at plating runs, it was surprising to see how often the squad would shift into neutral as soon as a runner reached second or third base. In the four games, the team was 7-of-35 (.200) in such scenarios.
Sunday’s game was the most worrying in this department. In the first three innings, Northwestern stranded eight runners on the bases. Considering the maximum amount of runners you could strand in that time frame is nine, that’s not awesome! Several times it looked like the ‘Cats had a chance to force Courtney Wyche out of the game early for the second consecutive day, but the offense stalled, including five at-bats with the bases loaded that plated zero runs.
It wouldn’t surprise me if by next week at this time, this is old news and a non-factor, but it’s certainly a trend Northwestern wants to nip in the bud as they continue their quest for the Big Ten regular season title.
Weekly Awards
Week MVP: Although Ashley Miller collected three wins in the circle this week, and Kelsey Nader reached base twice in every game, I don’t see how I could give it to anyone other than Angela Zedak (5-for-13, three HR, five RBIs, one walk and a handful of really nice plays in left field) for her record-setting day on Tuesday.
Best Play: Not only is this double play with contributions from Hannah Cady, Ainsley Muno, Kansas Robinson, Bridget Donahey, Emma Raye and Angela Zedak hilarious to watch as seven of the nine NU defenders touch the ball at some point, but it also was critical! After Renae Cunningham entered the game, this play took it from runners on second and third with no outs to a runner on second with two outs, essentially eliminating the Maryland scoring threat.
How about THAT double play! pic.twitter.com/wqkJsEPhjW
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) April 13, 2024
First-year shoutout: In one swing of the bat, Ainsley Muno doubled her season RBI total with this towering grand slam in the fourth inning of Saturday’s game:
Oh My Ainsley Muno!
Grand Slam has The J ROCKING. pic.twitter.com/98n6U22gfm
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) April 13, 2024
Ethan’s favorite NU Softball thing he saw this week: Last week I made my love known for Bowser, the dog of former Northwestern pitching legend Danielle Williams. And boy, do I have good news. This week, I got to meet Bowser!
I know it’s a little odd to include a picture of myself in the best Northwestern softball thing I saw this week, but this moment might have been the coolest part of my entire month. As much as I loved getting kisses from Bowser, it was even more special to get to meet Danielle Williams, who is the main reason I became a softball fan in the first place. Before I ever arrived as a student on campus, 15-year-old me watched Northwestern’s all-time wins leader mow down batters like it was nothing. Without Danielle Williams, I probably would not be writing this weekly column in the first place. They say not to meet your heroes, but Danielle could not have been nicer when I approached her and her pup.
That’s a wrap on this week’s column. Northwestern will look to keep its winning streak alive in the second game of a home-and-home with Illinois on Tuesday before heading to West Lafayette for a weekend series with the Boilermakers of Purdue, who have won eight of their last nine. I’ll be back here to recap it all next Monday.