Wildcats playing in their first Super Regional since 2008.
Northwestern’s young softball team is on the doorstep to its first College World Series since 2007. But first, the Wildcats must achieve a feat they’ve accomplished only twice in 18 tries in program history: Beat Oklahoma.
Northwestern this weekend is making its first appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals since 2008 in a best-of-three series against the top-seeded Sooners (Game 1 was a 3-0 loss Friday in Norman, Oklahoma) after dispatching Louisville in a doubleheader last Sunday.
The Wildcats believe they’re a better team, on both sides of the field, because of how they matched up against Oklahoma in two shutout losses earlier this season.
After a 17-5 start, Northwestern went 25-3 before the Big Ten Tournament after an 8-0 loss to the Sooners on March 10.
“We’re a different team than we were when we faced them in March, especially with the youth that we had,” Northwestern associate head coach Caryl Drohan said. “Our athletes learned a lot that weekend, and from there, they were much more aggressive with adjustments against top pitchers. The last three weeks helped us out facing top pitching and I think our athletes have a great plan.”
The Wildcats regularly start five freshmen who are among the top eight in team batting average leaders.
After a loss to DePaul on March 27, Northwestern head coach Kate Drohan noticed a mindset shift among her players.
“There was a stretch where we really challenged them to simply get better every day,” Drohan said. “There were some really tough games in our conference, but they love to play, compete and win. So we didn’t have to do a whole lot to motivate them.”
At the helm of the young core is freshman pitcher Danielle Williams.
The native of Pleasanton, California, was named a top-three finalist for the National Fastpitch Coaches Association’s Freshman of the Year award.
She went 31-6 and pitched 13 shutouts, fanned 310 and notched a 1.38 ERA, 23rd-best in the nation.
Northwestern assistant coach Michelle Gascoigne led the Sooners to the NCAA title in 2013 with a three-hit shutout. Now, she’ll be guiding Williams and the rest of the pitching staff against her alma matter to prevent Oklahoma from reaching its fourth consecutive College World Series.
“In the first couple of innings you might feel a little jitters, and those are good things,” Gascoigne said. “For Danielle, what’s really important is having a great relationship with [freshman catcher Jordyn Rudd] because that’s who she’s looking at in those moments. Jordyn’s done a really job handling that, calming her down and they call timeout if they need to set the pace of the game.”
Freshman infielder Nikki Cuchran has been hot at the plate recently. She went 7-for-19 in the Wildcats’ five regional games after making adjustments so she could track the ball better.
“Caryl and I had a conversation before the Big Ten Tournament and she said, ‘It’s a whole new season and nothing that happened previously matters anymore’,” Cuchran said. “I really took that to heart and I really tried to really let go of my previous at-bats that I kind of held onto.”
Northwestern will need every bit of offensive output it can get from Cuchran and the rest of the Wildcats against the No. 1 pitching team in the nation to reach the College World Series.
“I’m really proud of the work our team has put in throughout the course of the year,” Drohan said. “Last year, we took a big step making it to the Regional Championship in Athens. We really challenged our team to step up and continue to advance. They worked for it and we’re excited for the opportunity ahead of us.”
