For Northwestern softball, success isn’t a surprise, it’s a given.
In her 23 seasons leading the program, coach Kate Drohan’s teams have reached the NCAA Tournament 18 times, including each of the last seven seasons.
Despite losing two key sluggers and two perennially talented Big Ten expansion teams — Oregon and UCLA — entering the mix ahead of last season, the Wildcats finished their season in similar fashion to 2024.
After earning a national tournament bid, the ’Cats travelled to Clemson, South Carolina, where losses to No. 11-seed Clemson and Kentucky ended their season. The previous year they were clobbered by No. 1-seed Texas in the opening round.
The big question for NU’s potential success next season is filling the void left by now-graduated Lauren Boyd, who posted a career-best 2.30 ERA across 125 innings pitched.
In each of the last three seasons, NU’s primary ball-hurler has been a player slated to graduate at the season’s conclusion. Rising junior pitchers Riley Grudzielanek — who threw the second-most innings for NU in 2025 with 87.2 — and Renae Cunningham are two potential options for Drohan, as are rising sophomores Emma Blea and Signe Dohse.
On the offensive side, three of four players who ended the season with a batting average of .300 or better will return to the field next season.
Rising junior outfielder Isabel Cunnea was the consistent bat last season, finishing the year with a .360 average in 125 at-bats.
After a slow start last year on the heels of a successful sophomore-year stint, rising senior infielder Kansas Robinson led NU last year with 41 RBIs, and tied rising senior infielder Bridget Donahey for the most home runs with eight.
Rising sophomore infielder Kaylie Avvisato also made her mark during her rookie season, earning All-Big Ten Freshmen Team honors. She led the team in batting average for most of the year, before slowing down toward the end of the season.
NU is expected to play its first season in a new stadium this spring, assuming ongoing construction on the Kip and Sara Kirkpatrick Stadium is completed as scheduled.
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