The book officially closed on Northwestern’s 2026 season after the team was not selected for the 64-team NCAA Softball Tournament field Sunday.
The Wildcats (29-21, 16-8 Big Ten), who lost their lone conference tournament game to No. 11 seed Penn State, were listed third on the selection committee’s “First Four Out” ranking.
This year’s early finish comes just two years after the ’Cats won back-to-back-to-back Big Ten regular season championships from 2022 to 2024, making them one of just two Big Ten schools to accomplish the feat.
After making the tournament in every non-COVID year since 2018, NU will be watching from home for the remainder of the season.
The last time the ’Cats didn’t make the tournament was 2017. NU finished 25-29 that year, the only time in the last decade it finished with an under .500 record.
The end of the season also marks the end of the NU careers of five players: graduate students catcher Abby Harvey and infielder Grace Nieto, senior infielders Bridget Donahey and Kansas Robinson and senior outfielder Kelsey Nader.
Under coach Kate Drohan, NU has missed the tournament just five times in 25 years while making three Women’s College World Series appearances in the same stretch.
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