Each of the last three years the Wildcats have been the top seed in their NCAA regional. Each of the last three years the Cats have played their regional games at the comforts of Sharon J. Drysdale field.
This year, the Cats once again enter the playoffs as the top seed in their regional.
However, instead of playing their regional in Evanston, the Cats will travel more than 1,000 miles to Waco, Texas, for their first round games.
Due to a multitude of reasons, but primarily because of the lack of lighting at Sharon J. Drysdale field, the NCAA is shipping Northwestern to Texas for the first round of the postseason.
The last time NU traveled for its regional matchups was in 2005 when it played at Notre Dame.
After playing almost three-quarters of their games away from Evanston this year, the Cats are certainly used to traveling.
“We just have to get out of the mindset of being home for regionals and super regionals,” senior Erin Dyer said. “And all of our traveling in the beginning of the season and preseason has prepared us for that. We’ve played big games on the road and I think that has prepared us and we will lean on that.”
On Friday the Cats will go up against the Texas State, and depending on the result of their game, they will either play Louisiana-Lafayette or host Baylor on Saturday. NU hasn’t faced any of the teams this year, however all time it is 0-1 against Texas State and Louisiana-Lafayette and 2-0 against Baylor.
History won’t have much of an impact on this year’s regional, though. Both Texas State and Louisiana-Lafayette each won its conference tournaments while Baylor advanced to the semifinals. In addition, each team has played at least 10 more games than NU.
“I think top to bottom we have one of the strongest regionals in the country,” coach Kate Drohan said.
The Cats’ success will be largely determined by the play of junior pitcher Lauren Delaney. The 2008 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year has struggled with control this year. Delaney’s ERA rests at 2.55, 81 points higher than her 1.74 mark last year. She has given up 179 walks, up from 120 last year.
Delaney was the Cats’ go-to pitcher in the playoffs last year, pitching every inning of the NU’s six postseason games. She started off strong, allowing only five runs in the first four contests. However, she struggled against eventual national champion Arizona State in the super regional, giving up 12 runs in 13 innings.
Luckily for Delaney, she has one of the nation’s best offenses to back her up. The Cats lead the Big Ten with a .299 batting average and a whopping 79 home runs.
On Friday against Texas State, NU’s offense will face a tough test in Bobcat starter Chandler Hall. The 2009 Southland Conference Pitcher of the year leads the conference with a 1.03 ERA and 24 wins.
Still, going into the weekend, the Cats aren’t concentrating on Hall.
“They’re all good,” said senior Tammy Williams of the three other teams at the Cats’ regional. “Everyone’s good in the postseason. We just have to come out and focus on us and play our game and play like we know how and we’ll be OK.”
