MADISON, Wis. — As the Northwestern softball team made the eight-hour trek back to Evanston after a strong showing in Minnesota, the Wildcats stared out the windows of their bus and saw potential Big Ten success on the horizon.
After the Cats (12-14, 3-1 Big Ten) took three of four games at Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend, the trip down Interstate 94 should’ve gone by a little faster since the surging start to the Big Ten campaign put NU in second place after the weekend.
The Cats opened play in Wisconsin Friday, facing the Badgers (23-16, 1-3) in a doubleheader at Goodman Diamond. Despite battling hard for six innings against Wisconsin’s ace, Andrea Kirchberg, NU had a goose egg on the scoreboard entering the top of the seventh of Game 1.
Kirchberg, already a 20-game winner prior to this weekend’s Big Ten season-opener, quickly recorded two outs before junior Brooke Siebel pounded a home run to left field to knot the contest at 1. The Cats went on to down the Badgers in 10 innings, as freshman Jesse Wellnitz scored on a squeeze bunt by catcher Gretchen Barnes.
“That was a big win for us,” NU coach Sharon Drysdale said. “I thought our pitching was excellent, our defense was pretty good and that we really battled offensively to stay in the game.”
Pitcher Lauren Schwendimann gave the Cats the opportunity for the extra-inning heroics by throwing all 10 innings and conceding just one unearned run.
Schwendimann fought through several tense innings before her teammates pushed across the lead run. The freshman finished with 12 strikeouts and improved to 5-7 on the year.
“I did feel tired, but I knew that I had it in me to keep going,” Schwendimann said. “Especially being the visitor, you don’t know how long you’re going to go so you can’t really save anything because it could be your last inning.”
Emerging victorious in a tense, low-scoring contest was satisfying for the Cats, who have lost several close games this year.
“It was a tough game to play because you get the feeling that one ball, one mistake, can make the difference,” Drysdale said. “I thought we came through and took the game. I don’t think they gave it to us, I think we took it.”
Unfortunately for the Cats, Wisconsin rallied in the second game of the doubleheader, capitalizing on a four-run rally with two outs in the fifth inning to prevail 5-1. Wisconsin junior Lindy Barth broke open the game with a three-run bomb off Siebel, who is still not in her top form after sitting out much of the season with an ankle injury.
Despite the loss, the Cats were content with the split in Madison, which further proved they can beat any team on a given day.
“On doubleheaders we always say that if you split them and you drop the second one you always come out feeling bad,” said senior shortstop Tami Jones, who committed two errors. “But we do need to reflect on the first win. I threw the ball away and everybody picked me up and we came back and beat them.”
On Saturday the Cats headed to Minneapolis and sent the Golden Gophers (22-16, 0-4) back into their holes, outscoring their opponents 9-1 in two games.
Behind freshman hurler Brie Brown, the Cats broke a 1-1 tie in Saturday’s contest when Barnes lined a single to center, scoring pinch runner Stacey Austin. After that, Brown cruised to the win, allowing only one hit in the last three innings as NU won 4-1.
Sunday’s get-away game was more like a Schwendimann instructional clinic — and Minnesota failed miserably. The Cats blanked the Gophers 5-0, with Minnesota managing only four hits and committing just as many errors.
Sophomore outfielder Erin Jancic and Siebel hit back-to-back two-run singles in the fifth inning to fuel the victory. Schwendimann went the distance for the Cats, picking up her sixth win of the year.
“I think this is big simply because it’s Wisconsin and Minnesota,” Drysdale said. “We are playing with a lot of confidence right now.
“For this team in particular, we need to think about the Big Ten being separate from the rest of the year. This is our second season.”
