Softball

When senior Erin Mobley came to Northwestern, the team was struggling to get to .500. They didn’t even qualify for the Big Ten tournament.

Three years later the lone senior on the team has played a key role in helping the Wildcats to a 14-0 Big Ten record and a No. 15 national ranking.

And this weekend, in Mobley’s final regular season home games, NU has a chance to clinch the Big Ten regular season title by sweeping Michigan State. The regular season title would mean that NU would host the Big Ten tournament.

“I couldn’t have asked for more,” Mobley said. “This has been such a ride. My freshman year, to not even go to the tournament. To end it here would just be phenomenal.”

Mobley will be honored on Senior Day, Saturday, against the Spartans. Coach Kate Drohan joked about the ceremony.

“We’ll give her some flowers, make her cry and then start the game,” she said laughing. “That’s basically the routine.”

But while Drohan joked about the ceremony, she said it is always hard for everyone to say goodbye. This year may be even tougher because Mobley will be honored alone, though Drohan said she knows that once it’s time for the game Mobley will be back to business.

While it could be difficult to be the only senior on a team, the camaraderie among the Wildcats and the 14-0 Big Ten record have helped make Mobley’s final season a much easier one.

“It was kind of challenging at the beginning, I’m not going to lie,” Mobley said of being alone in her class. “But I’ve had great teammates and they’ve been very supportive and you kind of get over it. We almost forget that I’m the only senior. We’re a team, we don’t really separate ourselves by classes too much.”

Drohan said that she has seen Mobley grow a lot both on and off the field for the Cats in the past four years.

Mobley agreed and said that playing under both Kate and Carol Drohan helped her growth.

“Carol really helped me develop my swing and really learn how to be a mentally tough hitter at this level, which I don’t think I really figured out until I got here,” Mobley said. “Kate, on the other hand, has really helped me develop as a person as well as a player … She’s always coaching me on how to really be more of a balanced person. I can be very focused, a little too intense sometimes, so she’s good that way.”

Mobley said when NU takes the field on Friday and Saturday, they will be supported by a large contingent of her family. The senior joked that so many of her relatives will be at the field that the Wildcats would have a record crowd, made up mostly of “every member of my family.”

For catcher Jamie Dotson, who grew up just blocks away from Mobley in Santa Ana, Calif., it will be especially difficult to say goodbye to Mobley.

“She’s our only senior, (we’ve) gone through a lot together… to say goodbye, I mean not in the long run, but goodbye on the softball field,” said Dotson, who has played softball with Mobley since the two were 8 years old, “it’s hard.”

Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].

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Squad to honor senior as regular season closes

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“We’ll give her some flowers, make her cry and then start the game.”

kate drohan,

NU softball coach, on her plans for senior day