With the arrival of the NCAA tournament, Northwestern’s murderous early-season schedule has become more of a boon than a burden.

Fourth-seeded NU (42-12) has played 32 games against teams in the tournament field of 64. The Cats, who will host one of 16 Regionals, have a lot of experience playing the top teams in the nation. They have faced eight of the other 15 seeded squads and all of the top three.

The tournament selection committee appeared to recognize and value NU’s brutal schedule by awarding it a higher seed than other squads with better winning percentages like eighth-seeded Tennessee (53-9).

“The selection show is always a little goofy,” coach Kate Drohan said. “You never know when your name is going to be read … But they really like the strength of schedule and they like teams that played well down the stretch.”

Playing to the selection committee was just one of three main reasons why Drohan decided to have her team go through an arduous preseason, she said.

Drohan believed her veteran pitching staff of junior Eileen Canney and senior Courtnay Foster could handle the rigors of repeatedly facing high-caliber opposition. She also wanted to give her club the experience of playing strong competition.

Then again, Drohan has never been one to line up cupcake opponents for her team to mow down, and she feels her players wouldn’t want her to.

“I’ve always played that kind of schedule,” Drohan said. “And I think the personality of this team is such that they want to play the best. I think they would be dissatisfied if they didn’t.”

But when you play the type of schedule Drohan and her team want to, there are going to be bumps in the road. Despite snatching some nice victories against highly ranked clubs, the Cats posted just a 4-7 record against the top 12 seeds in the tournament.

Nonetheless, NU can look back on the early part of its season without any regrets.

“Back then, it was a little discouraging at first,” junior first baseman Garland Cooper said. “But then we started beating teams, and it gave us confidence and prepared us.

“We’ve learned how to play with the best, to compete, to be in pressure situations and get the big hit or the big pitch when we need it.”

If the Cats face an adverse situation during the tournament and need to dig deep and find inspiration, they have plenty to draw from. The one game Cooper, Drohan and Foster all point to is NU’s upset of top-seeded UCLA, in which the Cats rallied from behind twice to pull out a 3-2 victory.

“Nobody gave up, and everyone on the team contributed,” Cooper said. “That game showed us that we can play with the best.”

If NU advances deep into the tournament, it will likely have to go through teams featuring dominant ace pitchers. Half of the top 20 ERAs in the country belong to pitchers who take the circle for a seeded tournament team.

According to Foster, the experience of having already faced star hurlers like Tennessee’s Monica Abbot and Arizona’s Alicia Hollowell will be beneficial for the Cats.

“It’s allowed us to put ourselves on the same level as them, to know we’re capable of beating pitchers of that caliber,” Foster said.

Reach Andrew Simon at [email protected].