Softball: Five things to know from the final homestand of the season

Northwestern remains on the postseason bubble.

We’ve hit the home stretch.

Northwestern softball delivered another winning week, posting a 3-1 record after a dominant midweek showing against UIC and a dramatic series win against Wisconsin in the final games before the J is renovated. With only one week left of the regular season, Northwestern finds itself desperate for resume-boosting wins. Here are five takeaways from the penultimate week of the season.

1. Kaylie Avvisato saves the day, and perhaps the season

Sunday’s game against Wisconsin was one to remember. It may have been Senior Day, but it was Northwestern’s first-year phenom who made what may be the biggest play of the Wildcats’ season.

Northwestern’s offense looked rudderless for the vast majority of Sunday afternoon as the team entered the bottom of the seventh down three with a goose egg on the scoreboard. Combined with the end of Saturday’s loss, Northwestern had been held scoreless in 10 consecutive innings. Then everything flipped, as the bottom of Northwestern’s order tallied some hits together before Grace Nieto and Kelsey Nader moved two runs across, setting up Avvisato with Northwestern down to its final out.

I think you know what happened next…

I cannot overstate how clutch this was. Aside from being an epic moment to keep the Senior Day win streak alive, Northwestern’s already shaky postseason chances would have been totally quashed with a series loss to middle-of-the-pack Wisconsin. It’s not a stretch to say Kaylie Avvisato saved Northwestern’s season for the time being.

2. Uncharacteristic Lauren Boyd

All season long, one of Lauren Boyd’s best traits has been her ability to limit the long ball. For long stretches of the season, no Big Ten pitcher had allowed fewer home runs than Boyd, and, entering this weekend, she had allowed just one in Big Ten play, the best mark in the conference.

Boyd was still largely successful in her two starts against Wisconsin, earning wins in both appearances (although I thought she struggled to hit her spots on Sunday and gave up a handful of hard-hit balls), but the Badgers hammered Boyd for home runs in both games. For a pitcher who has shown the ability to limit hard-hit contact, rack up strikeouts and keep the ball in the park, this weekend was an odd anomaly from that norm. With must-win games on the horizon, Northwestern needs Boyd at her absolute best.

3. Emma Raye has gone cold

The past few weeks have not been kind to Emma Raye. Northwestern’s catcher has struggled on the offensive end as of late. The sophomore has just one hit in her last 11 games (1-of-24 at the plate in that stretch) with 10 strikeouts as her average has plummeted from around .300 to .250.

As a result, Raye has moved down the lineup, first from the six-spot to seventh, eventually shifting down to the eight-hole by the end of the weekend. After finishing second on the team with 10 homers in 2024, she has struggled to replicate that power in 2025, still sitting on just two for this season. While her defense has remained one of Northwestern’s greatest advantages, the Wildcats need her to find a rhythm at the plate going into the final stretch.

4. A lot at stake in the final weekend

This weekend all but made it official what we already knew. Northwestern won’t repeat as Big Ten regular season champs for the fourth-straight season. But there’s still a ton to play for with Northwestern traveling to Los Angeles to take on UCLA for the final games of the season. Let’s take a look at the top of the standings:

Big Ten Conference

Northwestern has clinched a top-six finish in the Big Ten, but the UCLA series is crucial for both teams. UCLA still has a Monday contest against Michigan, so there is a chance Northwestern will be two games back of the Bruins. With a series sweep, Northwestern clinches the all-important top-four seed which would give the Wildcats a first-round bye in the Big Ten Tournament, but that seems unlikely against a Bruin team who still has a chance to win the regular season title.

With Oregon facing Michigan State (5-14), I’m going to pencil the Ducks in for the top seed. Northwestern is unlikely to get much help with Nebraska facing Maryland (3-16) and Ohio State matching up against Illinois (5-13), so Northwestern is in serious danger of losing the bye week. And with Iowa taking on Rutgers (3-16), it’s quite possible that the Hawkeyes could sweep and pass Northwestern in the standings if the Wildcats aren’t able to collect some wins out west. Should Northwestern fall to the five or six seed, they would face the 11 or 12 seed on the first day of the tournament, likely to be one of Indiana, Purdue or Penn State.

5. A quick session of bracketology

In terms of Northwestern’s chances of making an NCAA Regional, I’d say the Wildcats are on the outside looking in. In the past, the Big Ten has sent about four teams to the NCAA Tournament. With the addition of UCLA, Oregon and Washington making the Big Ten a larger and more competitive conference, I expect that number to be closer to six in 2025.

UCLA and Oregon are locks, and I’d say Nebraska and Ohio State are close to that status as well. Northwestern finds itself in a cluster with Iowa, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana as teams who could potentially sneak into one of those last few spots. RPI is working against Northwestern, who ranks 11th in the conference and outside the top-50 nationally. The Wildcats are 2-9 in Quad 1 matchups, although Michigan is 0-11 and Indiana is 2-10. I’d currently project Washington and Michigan as the favorites for those final spots because of Northwestern’s struggles in non-conference play, but some wins against UCLA or in the Big Ten Tournament could do a lot to flip Northwestern’s fortunes.

Weekly Awards

Week MVP: How could it be anyone other than Kaylie Avvisato (7-of-13, three RBI, three doubles, home run, walk) who hit the huge homer but also tallied hits in every other game this week, including a collection of doubles, one of which was also a walk-off.

Best Play: In lieu of showing the Avvisato walk-off homer again, let’s go to the field on Sunday and take a look at this unreal throw by Izzy Cunnea to get the runner at home.

Big Ten Lookaround: We’ve talked about the Big Ten plenty in this column, but I mentioned the three teams Northwestern is most likely to play if they slip out of the top four. By far the scariest to me is Indiana, who, despite being swept this weekend, took Oregon to extra innings and could finish the season leading the country in batting average (.380) while also having Taylor Minnick lead the nation in the same statistic (.504). The Hoosiers pitching is a mess but in a one-game situation, that offense terrifies me.

What I’m watching for next weekend: What did Northwestern learn from the Nebraska series? Northwestern was embarrassed by the Huskers, and the Bruins represent an even fiercer opponent. It is imperative that the Wildcats win at least one game, but the Bruins are near the top of the conference in hitting, pitching and fielding. The margin for error is as slim as it’s been all season.

Ethan’s favorite NU softball thing he saw this week:

Senior Day is always the best, and this group (Lauren Boyd, Lauren Curry, Ayana Lindsey and Lauren Sciborski) are more than worthy of recognition. Boyd’s on-field importance speaks for itself, but the past two seasons have been incredibly young squads, and the importance of the veteran leadership from this group of seniors cannot be understated.

That’ll do it for this week! With no midweek matchup, all eyes turn to the Golden State for an all-important three-game get against UCLA. I’ll be back to recap everything and preview the Big Ten Tournament at this time next week.