Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern Softball Announces 2022 Schedule
12/8/2021 11:10:00 AM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern softball announced its complete 2022 softball schedule on Wednesday. The Wildcats' 2022 slate includes a total of 51 regular season contests, five non-conference tournaments around the country, and 14 home games played at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Coming off a successful 2021 campaign in which the Wildcats qualified for their sixth NCAA Regional over the past seven tournaments, Northwestern returns an abundance of experience, leadership and talent to this year's lineup that will be tested immediately playing against some of the top programs in the nation.
Northwestern will face off against 16 different opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including five teams that made it to the 2021 NCAA Super Regionals. In the first three weeks alone, nine of the 'Cats' first 14 games will be played against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams.
Head Coach Kate Drohan returns four players that earned First Team All-Big Ten honors last season in Rachel Lewis, Skyler Shellmyer, Jordyn Rudd and Danielle Williams. In total, the ´Cats return eight of their 10 starters from last season.
The Wildcats open their season with a trip to Leesburg, Florida to play in the inaugural Northern Lights Invitational from Feb. 11-13. Last season, the 'Cats played their first 12 games of the season in Leesburg and posted an 11-1 record against conference opponents, the best mark among any Big Ten team while playing in Florida.
Drohan's squad then heads to ESPN's high profile SPC Elite Invitational in Clearwater, Florida as one of 16 teams in a highly competitive group of teams. The Wildcats will face 2019 Women's College World Series Champion UCLA in Clearwater, along with Texas Tech, Clemson and Oklahoma State.
One week later, Northwestern will make its return to the nation's most prestigious non-conference tournament, the Mary Nutter Classic, in Palm Springs, California. This will mark the Wildcats' 16th appearance at the Mary Nutter Classic, which was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 'Cats will play five games in Palm Springs this year, including meetings with 2021 NCAA regional qualifiers Washington, Oregon and Iowa State.
The 'Cats round out their early season slate of travel with trips to Carbondale, IL (Southern Illinois) and Columbia, Missouri (University of Missouri), before hosting a seven-game homestand at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to open the Big Ten season.
This year's Big Ten regular season consists of 23 games played against eight conference foes. The 2022 Big Ten Tournament will be held from May 12-14 in East Lansing, Michigan.
Ticket information for the Wildcats' early season non-conference tournaments can be found below. Additional information on Wildcat home games will be made available in early January on NUSports.com.
Northern Lights Invitational: Leesburg, Florida (Feb 11-13)
SPC Elite Invitational: Clearwater, Florida (Feb. 18-20)
Mary Nutter Classic: Palm Springs, California (Feb. 25-27)
Coming off a successful 2021 campaign in which the Wildcats qualified for their sixth NCAA Regional over the past seven tournaments, Northwestern returns an abundance of experience, leadership and talent to this year's lineup that will be tested immediately playing against some of the top programs in the nation.
Northwestern will face off against 16 different opponents that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament, including five teams that made it to the 2021 NCAA Super Regionals. In the first three weeks alone, nine of the 'Cats' first 14 games will be played against 2021 NCAA Tournament teams.
Head Coach Kate Drohan returns four players that earned First Team All-Big Ten honors last season in Rachel Lewis, Skyler Shellmyer, Jordyn Rudd and Danielle Williams. In total, the ´Cats return eight of their 10 starters from last season.
The Wildcats open their season with a trip to Leesburg, Florida to play in the inaugural Northern Lights Invitational from Feb. 11-13. Last season, the 'Cats played their first 12 games of the season in Leesburg and posted an 11-1 record against conference opponents, the best mark among any Big Ten team while playing in Florida.
Drohan's squad then heads to ESPN's high profile SPC Elite Invitational in Clearwater, Florida as one of 16 teams in a highly competitive group of teams. The Wildcats will face 2019 Women's College World Series Champion UCLA in Clearwater, along with Texas Tech, Clemson and Oklahoma State.
One week later, Northwestern will make its return to the nation's most prestigious non-conference tournament, the Mary Nutter Classic, in Palm Springs, California. This will mark the Wildcats' 16th appearance at the Mary Nutter Classic, which was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 'Cats will play five games in Palm Springs this year, including meetings with 2021 NCAA regional qualifiers Washington, Oregon and Iowa State.
The 'Cats round out their early season slate of travel with trips to Carbondale, IL (Southern Illinois) and Columbia, Missouri (University of Missouri), before hosting a seven-game homestand at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to open the Big Ten season.
This year's Big Ten regular season consists of 23 games played against eight conference foes. The 2022 Big Ten Tournament will be held from May 12-14 in East Lansing, Michigan.
Ticket information for the Wildcats' early season non-conference tournaments can be found below. Additional information on Wildcat home games will be made available in early January on NUSports.com.
Northern Lights Invitational: Leesburg, Florida (Feb 11-13)
SPC Elite Invitational: Clearwater, Florida (Feb. 18-20)
Mary Nutter Classic: Palm Springs, California (Feb. 25-27)
Players Mentioned
IF/OF
/ Softball
C/U
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/U
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Sunday, May 04
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