Northwestern softball pitcher Brie Brown says she doesn’t really go for numbers.

But the numeral three is evidence to the contrary.

That’s how many innings Brown has not been on the mound this season in the Wildcats’ 10 games.

It’s also the number of shutouts Brown threw this weekend at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego.

“She has been getting stronger as her innings have increased,” coach Sharon Drysdale said. “When you get a pitching performance like we had from Brie, that’s all you can ask for.”

In a 6-0 win over Long Beach State, Brown hurled seven scoreless innings and struck out two for her fourth complete game of the tournament. Behind Brown, the Cats posted a 4-1 record. But NU (6-3) would have been lost without some timely hitting.

Locked in a third-inning scoreless tie with California State, Northridge, second baseman Carrie Leto broke through with a single to right field and stole second base to put herself in scoring position.

So when rightfielder Brett Nakabayashi stepped into the batter’s box, she had a chance to break the tie. But Nakabayashi was only thinking about extending the inning for the meat of the order.

“My coach told me to just get on base and have 3-4-5 come up because we knew we would get runs,” Nakabayashi said. “But I managed to get the ball through.”

Nakabayashi knocked a 2-2 pitch into left field to send Leto sprinting toward the plate. Leto slid by home but was able to reach back before the catcher could tag her.

The run proved to be the difference in a 1-0 Cats victory.

NU’s hitters also showed their skills with the bat in the clutch against San Diego State.

With the score tied 1-1 in the sixth, Alyson Schulz singled in a run to give the Cats a 2-1 win.

“We made good plays, and they made good plays,” Drysdale said. “Brie made some excellent pitches when she needed to.”

Said Brown: “I kept the ball low and made them hit it on the ground. We fiercely played solid defense.”

The Cats also defeated Utah State 5-0 and Long Beach State 6-0. Their only blip of the weekend came in a 9-4 defeat against Sacramento State.

In the loss, a failed double-steal attempt early on “squashed us a little bit,” Drysdale said. The Cats fell behind the Matadors 6-0 before making a too-little-too-late comeback.

“It was just one of those games,” Brown said. “They didn’t kill us. It was more like little things we couldn’t do.”

The Sacramento State loss notwithstanding, the Cats had a fun weekend in the sun, showing that good softball can be played outside the West.

“The West Coast (schools have) always thought they’re better than Midwest schools because they can play all year long,” Leto said. “I think the Midwest is getting better. We proved that this weekend.”