'Cats Take Center Stage at ESPN Clearwater Invitational

Sunday, February 18

Clearwater, Fla.

8:30 a.m. CT

Northwestern

#3 Texas

'Cats Take Center Stage at ESPN Clearwater Invitational

2/15/2024 5:30:00 PM | Softball

CLEARWATER, Fla. – After an opening weekend that saw Northwestern go 4-1 at the Kajikawa Classic, the Wildcats continue their non-conference schedule to open the 2024 season with a trip to the highly touted Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational.

Most recently in their trip to Arizona, Northwestern bounced back from a season-opening setback to Boise State with four-straight wins over Arizona State, St. Thomas and Weber State (x2). The Wildcats sit at No. 22 in this week's NFCA Coaches Poll, the highest ranking of any Big Ten team, and are one of five Big Ten teams to be receiving votes in the latest ESPN/USA Softball poll.

The 'Cats picked up their first win of the season in a 2-0 shutout over Arizona State at the Sun Devils' Farrington Stadium, powered by an 11 strikeout masterclass from Ashley Miller. Hannah Cady got Northwestern started early with an RBI single in the first inning to score Kelsey Nader, while Angela Zedak added some insurance in the third inning with a solo home run.

The home runs continued the next day in a 3-2 win over Weber State, with Kansas Robinson hitting her first of the season to start the game. Angela Zedak added her second home run of the weekend, a two-run home run in the fifth inning to give Northwestern the lead for good.

The final two games of the weekend saw offensive explosions from the 'Cats. Northwestern combined for 19 runs in wins over St. Thomas and Weber State–with both games ending in five inning run-rule victories. Robinson homered in her second straight game on Saturday vs. St. Thomas, contributing to her team-leading 1.231 slugging percentage and .737 on-base percentage over the weekend. First-year Riley Grudzielanek pitched an impressive 5.0 inning shutout while allowing only four hits against the Tommies. Grudzielanek followed that up on Sunday by homering for the first time in her career on Sunday against Weber State. First-year Emma Raye also recorded her first home run of her career in Saturday's win over St. Thomas while catching every inning of the weekend for the Wildcats.

Around the Horn:

The Wildcats have now recorded at least seven hits in their last 10 games dating back to last season. The last time this occurred was in 2015 when the 'Cats record 7+ hits in 12 straight games.
Angela Zedak finished last weekend leading the team with 10 hits. This is the first time in her career where she has recorded 10 hits over a five-game span. Additionally, Zedak had back to back games batting 4-of-4 against St. Thomas and Weber State on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, both of which marked single game career highs.
In Saturday's win over St. Thomas, the 'Cats combined for 15 hits while only striking out once. The last time Northwestern combined for 15+ hits with one or fewer strikeouts as a team was in 2012 during a 13-9 win over Houston that saw the Wildcats combine for 17 hits and one strikeout.
Hannah Cady followed up her strong 2023 season in a big way this past weekend, hitting .583 with a team-high seven RBI and a 1.171 OPS. Last year's second team All-Big Ten recipient was tied for ninth in the Big Ten in runs scored in 2023, and started this year with two runs scored on the weekend.
The pitching staff has now allowed three or fewer earned runs in eight straight games dating back to last season. The 'Cats combined for 33 strikeouts in 30 innings over the weekend for a 1.1 K/IP average, an increase from last year's 0.93 K/IP.
The Wildcats will face off against three teams ranked in the Top-12 of the latest ESPN/USA Softball poll (#12 LSU, #8 Oklahoma State, #3 Texas). In 2024, the 'Cats will face off against 12 different teams that qualified for the 2023 NCAA Tournament, including four that hosted an NCAA Regional and six that finished ranked in the final 2023 NFCA Coaches Poll. Last season, Northwestern had the 2nd-toughest non-conference strength of schedule in the country and played 10 of its first 20 games of the season against teams ranked in the Top 25.

This marks the third time that the Wildcats have represented the Big Ten in the five-year history of the Shriners Children's Clearwater Invitational. In 2022, the 'Cats went 3-1 in Clearwater, headlined by a thrilling eight-inning win over No. 3 UCLA and a shutout victory of No. 15 Clemson. This year's slate includes No. 12 LSU on Friday, Georgia Tech and No. 6 Oklahoma State on Saturday, and No. 3 Texas and UCF on Sunday.

Know Your Opponent:

Northwestern is 3-4 all time against Texas. Most recently, the two teams faced off in the NFCA Leadoff Classic last season. The 'Cats pulled off the 10-9 victory over then No. 6 Texas after a three run bottom of the sixth inning brought the Wildcats in front for the come from behind win.

The Wildcats are 5-11 all time against Oklahoma State. These teams most recently competed in 2022 when then No. 7 Oklahoma State defeated Northwestern 4-3.

The 'Cats are 2-3 all time against Georgia Tech. This will be the first time the two squads play each other since 2016.

Northwestern is 1-2 all-time against LSU, with the teams' last meeting coming in 2015.

This will mark the first time that Northwestern and UCF face off against each other.

Action will be televised all weekend on the ESPN family of networks. Friday's game vs. LSU will be on SEC Network, Saturday's game vs. Georgia Tech will be on ACC Network, while Sunday's game vs. Texas will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Games against Oklahoma State and UCF can be steamed live on ESPN+. Additionally, fans can follow along updates on the Norhwestern Softball Twitter feed (@NUSBCats).