The Northwestern softball team heads home — well, home for 10 of the 17 players.
The Wildcats (5-3) travel to Fullerton, Calif., to face off against three of the top-seven teams in the country at the Worth Invitational.
NU, which has 10 players from California, plays No. 17 Oregon State (13-5) at 2 p.m. today before taking on defending national champion No. 2 California (12-3) at 4 p.m.
On Saturday, the Cats play No. 4 Washington (12-0-1) at noon and tournament host No. 7 Cal State-Fullerton (11-5) at 6 p.m. NU then meets Portland State (1-4) at 2 p.m. Sunday before returning to Evanston.
Coach Kate Drohan scheduled the tough non-conference opponents to help her team prepare for the Big Ten season.
“No question about it that’s why we did it,” Drohan said two weeks ago. “We elevate our play tremendously when we have a challenge.”
This weekend will give the Cats a second chance at Washington, which beat them 2-1 on Feb. 15.
Upperclassmen Carri Leto and Brett Nakabayahi have led the Cats in their first eight games. Leto, a second baseman who was a 2002 second-team All-Big Ten selection, is batting .423 and has a team-leading .615 slugging percentage. Batting in the leadoff spot, Nakabayahi, a senior right fielder, is leading the Big Ten with a .483 batting average.
On the mound, NU freshman right-hander Courtnay Foster (2-2) leads the team with a 1.33 ERA and has held opponents to a .203 batting average.
