It was admittedly terrifying for freshman Jordan Wheeler on championship Sunday of the NCAA softball tournament regional round.
The 5-foot-8 leadoff hitter has come up big for Northwestern throughout her first season. But she could not have come up bigger for the Wildcats in Sunday’s elimination game against DePaul.
Her RBI double in the fifth inning gave NU a 3-0 lead – a lead it would need every bit of to advance to its fourth straight Super Regional.
The Cats blew a two-run lead in the first game and nearly lost a three-run lead in the must-win second game.
But NU never lost its composure and ground out the victory.
Even with runners on second and third in the bottom of the seventh inning – and elimination just two bases away – the Cats kept their heads on straight and found a way to move on.
“I’ve never been more nervous,” Wheeler said. “I never had any doubts throughout the game that we were going to pull it out. That everyone in our lineup can come through with a hit and that Delaney was pitching.”
The Cats withstood the Blue Demons’ upset bid because of the confidence they had in themselves.
The softball team had this confidence because it has been in this situation before. The last two seasons, the team has faced the pressure of the Women’s College World Series.
It was this kind of experience that helped the lacrosse team dominate Princeton and reach its fourth straight semifinal in the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament.
But it was a lack of experience under pressure that doomed women’s tennis. The top overall seed fell to California in a shocking 4-2 loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
The Cats bowed out with a whimper after a dominant regular season, losing four of the five completed singles matches and leaving the tournament in disappointing fashion.
Claire Pollard’s squad was really in uncharted territory.
The team ran through the Big Ten – as it normally does – and had success in the postseason, reaching their second quarterfinal in three years.
This could have been NU’s breakout year. The team lost only one dual during the season – to defending national champion Georgia Tech.
The Cats even defeated the Golden Bears in the National Indoor Championships in February.
But the NCAAs are an entirely different animal, and NU found that out first-hand, falling to the seasoned team from the Pac-10.
For a championship team like lacrosse, the whole season has been a preparation for the national championship game.
The Cats had some poor games. But in the big moments when the team needed to come back for the win, they did – except for a loss to Penn.
And you can bet that when the Cats run into the Quakers again – which they might in Sunday’s championship game – they will not have forgotten their lone defeat.
NU lacrosse showed it has the focus to get the wins in nearly any situation, steamrolling through the postseason.
That is the mark of a team completely focused on a national championship and a team which knows how to win one already.
All three teams have a legitimate shot at winning national championships in the future.
They can win with an experienced core and a lot of youth in the lineup. Softball has only one senior and four freshman starters. The team has been tested in the postseason and is gaining the experience for the long haul.
Lacrosse has only one senior it will need to replace, whether it is gunning for a fifth straight title or for redemption for a loss this weekend.
Women’s tennis will be back too.
If anything, the loss makes the team hungrier. The experience the team gained will be invaluable for its next championship push.
Next year’s runs through the NCAA tournament will not be so terrifying for anyone.
Assistant Sports Editor Philip Rossman-Reich is a Medill sophomore. He can be reached at [email protected].
——–View photos from this weekend’s sports events here.
