There may not be any chants of “defense” this weekend, but the phrase will be on the minds of the No. 13 Wildcats.
Northwestern (24-10, 9-1 Big Ten) plays four Big Ten home games this weekend as it continues to chase No. 6 Michigan (39-4, 11-1) for the top spot in the Big Ten standings and a chance to host the conference tournament.
NU plays Indiana (12-28, 2-8) on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday the Cats host a doubleheader against Purdue (29-13, 5-3). As always the focus for NU will be on defense.
“I said this before the Ohio State game, before the Iowa game, and I’ll say it before this weekend – we need to defend well this weekend,” coach Kate Drohan said. “We need to pick the ball up and throw it to first base, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on throughout the week.”
This message did not get through last weekend, when three first-inning errors led to five Iowa runs, costing NU its first conference loss of the season. The Cats rank eighth in the Big Ten in fielding percentage at .958, and Drohan said they need to eliminate defensive mistakes to put sophomore ace Lauren Delaney in the best position possible.
Avoiding the Trap Game
The weekend begins against Indiana on Friday. The Hoosiers have struggled so far this year: They are last in the Big Ten in ERA at 4.36, more than a run and a half above the Big Ten average. Indiana has had similar results at the plate, scoring a conference-worst 2.5 runs per game.
NU faces a much more successful Purdue team on Sunday, but Drohan said she knows the players cannot look past their opening series.
“I think this team has a really good grasp of, ‘You win a championship by taking care of one game at a time,'” Drohan said. “The Big Ten has been decided by a game or a half-game the last two years, so they understand that you have to take care of business on Friday before you even think about Sunday.”
Last year, Delaney pitched a gem against Indiana and junior shortstop Tammy Williams homered in the series. Nevertheless, both players downplayed the importance of last year’s success.
“I’m a different pitcher than I was last year and it’s just a different situation,” Delaney said, “so I don’t think last year really has much impact.”
Walking Home
The Cats’ offense has been thriving of late, averaging seven runs over their previous 12 contests, and NU has come out on top in 11 of those games.
Williams has been setting the table for the run producers. She bats second in the lineup and leads the country in batting average at .515, so opponents have increasingly begun issue her free passes. Against Iowa last weekend she was walked four times in the two games.
“I’ve been seeing a lot of balls lately, and it’s just something that I have to get used to,” she said. “I got walked a lot last weekend, and it’s something that I’m expecting to see again this weekend.”
The Cats offense will have its hands full against Purdue, a team with two different, equally effective starters. Both junior Dana Alcocer and freshman Suzie Rzegocki have compiled over 100 innings, while maintaining an ERA of about 3.00.
“We face a lot of teams where we expect to face two girls, so we know what both of them are going to throw, and we get ready for both,” Williams said. “It’s different when you know who’s going to pitch, but you have to approach both types of games the same way.”
