A youth movement has hit Northwestern’s infield.

Three of the Wildcats’ four infielders, shortstop Stephanie Churchwell, second baseman Kelly Odell and third baseman Darcy Sengewald, are freshmen. And the fourth, first baseman Garland Cooper, is a sophomore.

But despite the young faces in the infield, NU has jumped to an 8-0 start in the Big Ten, the best start since Indiana opened the conference season 10-0 in 1994. And even though people are usually quick to attribute success to experienced, older players, the freshman infielders don’t feel they’re any less seasoned than upperclassmen.

“We’ve all played for a number of years, so we have experience, maybe not at the collegiate level, but we all have softball experience,” Odell said.

And that softball experience has definitely paid off so far this year.

Churchwell, Odell and Sengewald have combined for 51 runs and 35 RBIs. The group is led by Churchwell, who has 32 runs and 27 RBIs and is hitting .415, good for second on the team.

“She’s really doing some great things for us offensively,” coach Kate Drohan said. “(She makes) something happen every time she steps into the batter’s box.”

“Then you have the power threat and also her speed threat. That puts a lot of pressure on a defense. They have to think about a lot of things.”

Drohan also praised the play of Odell and Sengewald, who have been less impressive than Churchwell offensively but stellar on defense.

“Kelly Odell and Darcy have done just what I ask them to do, and that’s to put the ball in play and make something happen,” Drohan said. “They’ve done a great job, especially in some very clutch situations.”

Odell, who didn’t play until the start of the Big Ten season but has started all eight games since, has recorded nine put-outs and 13 assists with only one error. Sengewald has recorded 37 put-outs and 60 assists with only three errors in 33 games.

Drohan said she is not surprised with how well the three freshmen have performed.

“Well, I think they’re very experienced players and they’ve played at the highest level in summer ball, so I was pretty comfortable (starting them),” she said. “I mean, they had proven themselves in practice, and I think that was the most important thing.”

And if there is anything the freshmen need to learn, coaches and older players make sure they’re up to speed before games.

“They’re all really helpful because they’ve all been through it before,” Sengewald said.

Sengewald then pointed out that their youth may actually give them an advantage over their older teammates.

“I think one of the advantages is that we know that we have nothing to lose really,” she said.

“We know we can go out there and play as hard as we can and not (have as much) expected of us, so we really don’t have that much pressure on us.”

Churchwell said that despite their lack of college experience, nobody should worry about whether they’re experienced enough to handle the game.

“I know that all the freshman and everyone on the team (have) been playing since they were probably 6 or 7, so I mean, it’s not like we’re being thrown into something that we’ve never done before,” Churchwell said.

“We know what we’re doing.”

Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].

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Infield of youngsters helps team to 8-0 start

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