Northwestern University Athletics
The Softball Season in Review
5/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 15, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. -
The Northwestern softball team finished its season on a high note, sending long-time coach Sharon Drysdale out with a win over Iowa while spoiling the Hawkeyes hopes of being Big Ten champs. Drysdale finished out her 23-year career at Northwestern with a 640-512-3 NU record and a 704-529-3 career record in 26 years. She reached her 700th career victory in a 4-2 win over Indiana at Anderson Field on April 20. Two weeks later, Anderson Field was renamed to Sharon J. Drysdale Field, in honor of her commitment and passion to Northwestern softball.
As a team, the `Cats (20-25, 8-12 Big Ten) struggled through injuries and an up-and-down season. They just missed the Big Ten tournament, finishing eighth in the league. NU started the season in Florida, going 2-2 at the South Florida Tournament. The Wildcats then traveled to the San Diego State Tournament, where they won four games while only dropping one. But the loss of key players to injuries started to hinder the `Cats in the following weeks. The `Cats suffered through an eight-game losing streak before bouncing back with a win just before the Big Ten season opener.
The Big Ten season proved to be a rollercoaster ride for the `Cats. They swept Penn State in the opener but were swept by Ohio State with each of the losses coming by a run. The second week of action once again saw the `Cats sweeping their first opponent of the weekend (Minnesota) and then losing the next two (Wisconsin). After falling to Illinois just before Easter, the `Cats knew they needed to get back on track, so they used a mid-week doubleheader against Loyola to warm-up for the latter part of the Big Ten season. After sweeping Loyola, the `Cats needed only one more win to give their coach her 700th victory.
It was a homecoming weekend for many former NU players, as they returned to Evanston to celebrate Drysdale's career. The weekend started with a sweep of Indiana and the landmark victory. But midst the festivities and celebrations of parents day and senior day, Purdue snuck in to take a pair of 2-1 wins which left the `Cats straddling the fence of the Big Ten tournament cut-off.
NU dropped two games to eventual league champs Michigan and then split with Michigan State, making the road to the tournament tougher along the way. In the final weekend, NU dropped its first game to Iowa, taking the Wildcats out of a tournament spot. But the tables were turned in the final game of the season as the `Cats sent their coach out as a winner, spoiling Iowa's chance to host the tournament and handing them only their second home loss of the season.
Injuries were key to the `Cats as Brooke Siebel, the 2000 Big Ten Player of the Year, sat out all season with a stress fracture in her hip. Lauren Schwendimann missed most of the pre-conference season recovering from shoulder surgery. Erin Jancic battled chronic shoulder problems and Brett Nakabayashi sat out the last few weeks of the season with mononucleousis.
But on the bright side, freshmen Carri Leto and J.C. Kira proved a good fit for the `Cats. Kira started all but one game as catcher, while Leto led the team in many offensive categories, including a .308 batting average. Gretchen Barnes continued her stability, hitting three homers and pitching eight innings in relief while also starting every game at third base. Alyson Schulz led the team in Big Ten games with a .302 batting average, while Robyn Pettinger and Jessie Wellnitz stepped up in the latter part of the season. Brie Brown spent most of the time in the circle, pitching 182.1 innings and throwing five shutouts.
At season's end, NU graduated seniors Brooke Siebel and Stacey Austin, and associate head coach Kate Drohan took over the reins as head coach.
