Cats lose in semifinals, but headed to NCAAs

NU comes from behind to defeat Minnesota in extra innings, secure bid

By Zach Silka

The Daily Northwestern

While the rest of the Northwestern softball team walked off the field dejected after a disappointing loss to Michigan State on Saturday, Wildcats second baseman Carri Leto still was upbeat and energetic.

The other Cats players were on the verge of tears, but Leto had a smile on her face. The senior said the Cats’ defeat in the Big Ten tournament semifinal wouldn’t matter as long as they made the NCAA tournament.

Leto’s bold pronouncement came true Sunday night as the Cats gathered to watch the ESPNEWS Division I softball tournament selection show.

Third-seeded NU will face No. 6 UC-Santa Barbara on Thursday in its opening-round game of the Arizona regional in Tucson, Ariz.

The players didn’t have much time to worry if their team would be selected because NU was chosen to play in the regional that was first announced on television.

“This is more of a relief than anything,” NU coach Kate Drohan said. “All day long I talked us into the tournament and out of the tournament.”

The bid helped the Cats’ forget about their early exit in the Big Ten tournament on Saturday at Michigan’s Alumni Field.

Eighth-seeded Michigan State sent No. 5 NU packing in a 2-0 shutout victory.

Neither team could plate a run until the sixth inning, when the Spartans scored two runs on right fielder Elizabeth Peterson’s single to center field.

The line drive sailed just over the glove of leaping Cats shortstop Eryn Manahan, and by the time center fielder Katie Logan fielded the ball, it was too late to cut down the second runner at home.

“One hit made the difference today, ” Drohan said. “We had chances, they had chances. A couple inches above the shortstop’s glove was it.”

The Cats were at a slight disadvantage in their game against Michigan State because of an early wake-up call to finish a suspended game against Minnesota on the same morning.

Because of heavy rain on Friday, the Cats resumed their game with the Gophers at 8 a.m. in the top of the seventh inning.

Facing a 2-0 deficit in their last at-bats, NU put two runs on the board to send the game to extra innings.

Leto, who is on a 16-game hitting streak, started the charge by leading off the frame with a one-out single up the middle.

After right fielder Erin Mobley’s single to center field, first baseman Garland Cooper grounded out to shortstop, but the hit drove in Leto from third to put the score at 2-1.

Next up was clutch-hitting third baseman Kristen Amegin, who promptly found the hole between the shortstop and the third baseman with a base hit to left field with two outs. Mobley easily trotted home from third, and the game was tied 2-2.

“Once we tied it up, we were like, ‘We’re not losing. We’re winning. We came this far. We worked this hard. We’re not going home,'” Amegin said.

Amegin wasn’t done with her clutch hitting after her season-saving hit in the seventh. She crushed a three-run walk-off home run in the 11th inning, which allowed the Cats to advance, and possibly ensured NU would receive a bid in the NCAA tournament.

“I was little worried that if we would have lost that game, we would have been throwing ourselves right on the bubble,” Drohan said.

The Cats now turn their attention to the NCAA regional tournament and the difficult task of unseating tournament favorite No. 1 Arizona, who will be playing at home.

“Arizona is the team to beat, and it will be great if we get to play against them in the (regional championship) or earlier,” Leto said. “It’s an exciting feeling being in the tournament, but the best feeling is knowing we can keep Arizona from making the College World Series, and what a huge upset it will be when we do.”