The metaphorical bread basket of collegiate softball has long resided in Southern California.
With more Women’s College World Series wins and appearances than any other program in the country, No. 8 UCLA isn’t the kind of team you’d want to face if you’re Northwestern, a team looking to end the regular season on a high note and firm up its footing ahead of the conference tournament.
But after its first time crossing Pacific clock lines for a Big Ten series, the Wildcats (29-17-1, 16-6) turned back time to their own days of dominance, returning to Evanston with a series win over one of the nation’s premier squads.
“Man, did the teams switch uniforms here?” Big Ten Network’s Chris Vosters quipped after a single by freshman utility player Avery Garden allowed NU to take a 7-0 lead in the third inning of the weekend opener. “It’s like Northwestern is swinging the bat like UCLA.”
Coach Kate Drohan’s squad would ultimately tack on one more run in Friday’s Bruin (47-9-0, 17-5 Big Ten) bashing, beginning their Golden State-stint with a six-inning, run-rule victory.
“We went into the weekend saying, ‘Okay, let’s pretend this is a Super Regional,’” Drohan said. “Let’s practice how we can make it to Sunday and then win that game.”
Graduate student pitcher Lauren Boyd tossed the complete-game shutout Friday, conceding just three hits and striking out four as the NU defense delivered behind her.
Drohan said that Boyd and pitching coach Michelle Gascoigne worked together to keep UCLA’s firepower offense at bay.
“She was just unflappable,” Drohan said of her veteran pitcher who missed the entirety of last season with an injury.
As the ’Cats flashed their leather throughout the game, their opponents struggled to do the same. In fact, all eight of NU’s runs were unearned as the Bruins unloaded four errors, two more than they had recorded in any other single game all season.
Following a costly collision between UCLA’s shortstop and left fielder on a pop-up play, Garden, batting in the nine-hole, and senior infielder Grace Nieto launched back-to-back home runs. Prior to Friday’s contest, the freshman had hit just three homers in her young career, while the veteran had hit four in her three seasons of play.
From there, Drohan’s group erupted with four more runs in the third frame, three of which came on a miscommunicated blooper off the bat of senior outfielder Ayana Lindsey.
Following Garden’s RBI single, a sixth-inning sacrifice fly by junior outfielder Kelsey Nader extended the NU lead into mercy-rule territory, and they sealed the deal with solid defense in the bottom of the frame.
In their lone loss of the weekend, the ’Cats refused to quit down by 11 runs in the third inning, scoring four runs in both the fourth and fifth to trim the deficit to as few as three.
Senior catcher Lauren Sciborski filled the role of sophomore catcher Emma Raye, pouring in two hits and an RBI Saturday, in addition to her defensive contributions. Raye, NU’s typical starter behind the dish, did not join the team on its West Coast endeavor, as she remains in concussion protocol.
Sciborski said she first learned that she would be starting this weekend Wednesday.
“There was just this moment where I was like, ‘Okay, this is it,’” she said.
In the fifth inning, junior infielder Kansas Robinson, sophomore outfielder Isabel Cunnea and Sciborski all homered in quick succession.
Ultimately, the ’Cats’ offensive comeback came up short, as they fell 15-8.
Following that drubbing, the visitors finished the weekend with a rubber match win to take the series.
Drohan’s squad struck first Sunday when a Cunnea single through the right side allowed Nieto to score.
From there, the NU bats fell quiet, as UCLA pulled ahead with a three-run third inning.
But Cunnea and Sciborski did not back down. The ’Cats plated four runs in the sixth inning on their RBI singles. Another costly Bruin error allowed three runs to come across on Sciborski’s hit.
Boyd faced just seven batters in the final two innings as the ’Cats sealed their series victory on the defensive end.
“I feel like that series is what we needed to know that we could do it,” Cunnea said, looking ahead to postseason play. “Stepping up and being able to come up with those clutch hits … was huge for us.”
The ’Cats enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 12 seed Purdue — the tournament’s host — in the opening round Wednesday.
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