On the most important day of its season, the Northwestern softball team asked freshman pitcher Lauren Schwendimann for an incredible performance — and she came only two innings shy of delivering.
Schwendimann pitched two complete games Saturday, totaling 27 2/3 of a possible 30 innings in the Wildcats’ four games of the NCAA regional at Norman, Okla.
But after holding NU’s opponents scoreless for 12 consecutive innings, Schwendimann ran out of gas Saturday in the sixth inning against No. 13 Oregon State (40-21-1). In that frame, Schwendimann yielded three runs and the Cats (30-26) went on to lose 4-0 to the Beavers, ending their first NCAA appearance since 1987.
NU’s inability to hit Oregon State pitcher Tarrah Beyster in two games was the main cause of its downfall. Beyster shut out the Cats 1-0 Thursday in the opener of the regionals, a marathon 10-inning affair in which Schwendimann pitched the entire game. In the two matchups, NU was able to generate 12 hits, but the Beavers’ All-American escaped every jam without allowing any runs.
“She showed a lot of heart,” Schwendimann said of Beyster. “Good pitchers can get out of innings with runners on base, and she did it every time.”
The Cats had several golden opportunities against Beyster in their second meeting. NU loaded the bases in the first and sixth innings with two outs, but a foul out and strikeout ended the threat.
After that, Oregon State finally broke through against Schwendimann, belting four straight singles and scoring two unearned runs — one on an error by right fielder Brett Nakabayashi and the other as NU misplayed a rundown.
“We gave up three runs on what should have been a single and one run,” coach Sharon Drysdale said. “If you give up one you have a chance to come back, but down three runs, it becomes very hard.”
Schwendimann said she had been feeling fatigued for most of the Oregon State game and after seeing her for 15 innings at the regional, the opposing hitters began to sneak balls through the infield. Despite the laboring, Schwendimann still felt like she could be effective late in the game.
“At that point you don’t really care about how you feel,” Schwendimann said. “I knew the longer I went, the stronger I’d get.”
As has been the trend throughout the season, Schwendimann came to the Oklahoma Softball Complex Saturday morning not knowing if she would pitch in the Cats’ first game against Arkansas. But after she got the nod, Schwendimann dominated on the mound, shutting out the Lady Razorbacks 5-0.
NU pulled ahead 1-0 in the second inning before the offense gave its weary pitcher some insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings. NU catcher Gretchen Barnes smashed a two-run home run to left field, capping the scoring.
After a dormant offensive game in the first meeting with Oregon State and a sloppy slugfest against Harvard, the Cats’ performance against Arkansas was the team’s most complete effort over the past few weeks.
Pitching multiple games in one day was nothing new for Schwendimann, who said she had previously pitched three games in 24 hours. NU’s other pitcher, freshman Brie Brown, had lost two close games at the Big Ten tournament.
And Brown had struggled against Harvard Friday, allowing four runs in just 2 1/3 innings. The Cats fell behind 4-0 in the third before rallying back for the 9-6 win.
“If Brown had been more effective against Harvard, I would have considered it,” Drysdale said. “But I didn’t want Schwendy to pitch the first game and then to sit in relief in the second. I expected to bring Brie in sometime during the Oregon State game, but Schwendy was really strong the whole way.”
The loss to Oregon State ended the careers of four NU seniors — Jenn Shull, Tami Jones, Brittany Nelson and Mikie Chambers.
For a team that was snubbed in 1998 from making the NCAAs, the players hoped that a strong showing in the regionals will become an annual occurrence.
“It was a great season,” Schwendimann said. “The coaches said we helped to build a postseason tradition that will last for a while.”
Added Drysdale: “These wins at regionals were important because we really came out of nowhere this year. They kept battling and battling to play one more game and we were only three games away from the College World Series.”
