With a trip to Hawaii, a victory over the No. 8 team in the nation and two wins to begin the Big Ten season, the Northwestern softball team can’t complain about its Spring Break.
There were several highlights for the Wildcats (11-8-1, 2-0 Big Ten), the biggest being a 1-0 shutout of No. 8 California in the Honolulu Chevron Invitational on March 23.
The game featured a pitcher’s duel between NU junior Lauren Schwendimann and California All-American Jocelyn Forest. The scoreboard was littered with goose eggs for both teams until the top of the seventh inning, when Schwendimann helped her own cause by knocking in Carri Leto with a single for the go-ahead run.
“As soon as I got on base, I just knew I was going to score,” Leto said. “I knew one of my teammates would pick me up.”
The Golden Bears’ comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh fell just short, as Schwendimann got out of a jam when outfielder Erin Jancic caught a deep fly ball for the final out.
“The win against Cal was the biggest for the program in a couple of years,” coach Kate Drohan said. “We went in knowing we could beat them.”
Schwendimann struck out four, scattered six hits and walked just one batter. The California native is now 7-1 on the year and leads the team in wins.
“(She) did a great job mixing in her change-up,” Drohan said. “It really kept Cal off-balance.”
The win over California was the fourth straight for the Cats, who had earlier defeated Hofstra, Hawaii and Nattadai No. 2, one of two Japanese colleges participating in the tournament. The games against the Japanese opponents don’t count toward NU’s record.
Brie Brown shut down Hofstra on March 17 with more than six innings of solid pitching. The junior struck out seven and allowed only four hits in guiding the Cats to a 2-0 win.
“She showed fire in her performance that I had never seen from her yet,” Drohan said.
But after the four wins, the offense ran dry and the defense started to crumble, as NU committed seven errors in losing three of the next four games while scoring only six runs.
NU’s first loss came against Nattadai No. 1, 4-3. The Cats followed it with a 9-0 loss to California and a 6-2 loss to Hawaii.
“Defense was a problem for us,” Drohan admitted. “I told the team that we’re never going to win if we have more errors than runs.”
Jancic earned Most Valuable Player honors for the tournament and was joined by NU’s Schwendimann and Cindy Muran on the All-Tournament team.
The Cats got back on the winning track in Evanston. Hosting Indiana for a Sunday doubleheader, NU swept the Hoosiers with 9-1 and 4-3 victories. More importantly, however, the Cats did not commit a single error.
“I was very pleased with the entire performance over the break,” Drohan said. “There was a lot of team play – just some intense softball.”
The Daily’s Nick Collins contributed to this report.
