After starting the season 6-8, Northwestern has yet to find a way to bring its talent together, what senior catcher Emily Haug has called the “it” factor.

“In the Stanford and UCLA games we had it,” she said. “We found it.”

The Wildcats were the 15th-ranked team in the country coming into the season and didn’t have the hot start some anticipated. Wins against top-level nonconference teams added to the belief that the squad has what it takes to play in the NCAA tournament in June.

“(The big wins) give us a lot of energy,” Haug said. “It really gets the team going again.”

NU heads to California this weekend to play in the DeMarini Invitational. The Cats open against North Carolina, a team that has rattled off nine straight wins and boasts a pitching staff that has a miniscule 1.22 ERA.

The Cats will see a bevy of familiar faces the rest of the weekend. NU is scheduled to complete its game against UC Davis from last weekend’s Cathedral City Classic, which was suspended with the Cats ahead 7-1. Another game against UC Davis will start immediately after the completion of the first game.

On Saturday night the Cats have a primetime rematch against No. 10 Stanford, who the Cats upset last weekend 4-0. Their final game of the tournament will be against Pacific, to whom the Cats fell last weekend 4-2.

“It’s more of a revenge kind of feeling,” junior designated player Michelle Batts said. “We know what’s coming.”

The missing piece for NU this season may just be making good contact. The offense averages more than seven strikeouts each game, failing to put much pressure on opposing defenses. Batts said the lineup has to change its mental approach to at-bats.

“It’s so difficult to hit and stay positive when you’re going to fail three times out of four,” she said. “We’re just a couple steps (away). It’s the small things. And the small things always count at the end of the day.”

Junior Robin Thompson and senior Nicole Pauly will be looking to turn things around at the plate this weekend. Although both have proven they can hit-Thompson hit .299 last season and Pauly has 40 career jacks-the two veterans have suffered from slow starts this season. Thompson, an offensive catalyst with speed, is hitting only .087, while Pauly sits at .143.

The resurgence of Thompson and Pauly in an already-versatile offense may just be the key to finding it.

Though NU has underperformed thus far, the nonconference schedule isn’t a top priority for Drohan. The Big Ten season doesn’t start until March 27, giving the Cats time to reach their potential.

“It’s really amazing what we’re capable of when we’re firing on all cylinders,” Drohan said.”[email protected]