Northwestern Looks to Keep Offense Hot at Mary Nutter Classic

CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – For the second straight weekend, Northwestern is slated to play in one of college softball's most prestigious non-conference tournaments as the Wildcats head out west to California for four games at the Mary Nutter Classic.

The 'Cats will open the weekend with a marquee matchup against No. 19 UCLA on Friday at 5 pm CT, followed by a Saturday doubleheader against Loyola Marymount (12 pm CT) and San Diego (2:30 pm CT), before wrapping up with a Sunday matinee against Oregon State at 11 am CT. Action throughout the weekend will be streamed on FloSoftball, with live in-game updates and highlights also coming on the @NUSBCats Twitter feed.

Northwestern had its offense on full display during a rain-shortened Shriners Childrens Clearwater Invitational this past weekend, scoring 31 runs over two games while splitting its first two matchups against LSU and Georgia Tech before seeing games against Oklahoma State, Texas and UCF get rained out.

Keeping Up With the 'Cats

Northwestern combined for a .379 batting average over the weekend, including a .543 combined on-base percentage and a .655 slugging percentage in the Wildcats' two high scoring affairs.

Leading the way for Northwestern in Clearwater was Hannah Cady, who drove in a team-leading seven RBI in two games, driving in a run in 5-of-8 plate appearances over the weekend while recording a .625 on-base percentage. Cady drove in a career high five RBI on Friday vs. No. 12 LSU, going 3-for-4 in what marked the fourth three-hit performance of her career.

Heading into the weekend, Cady currently leads all Big Ten players and ranks 12th in the nation with 14 RBI on the season. Her .550 batting average (11-for-20) is tied with fellow teammate Angela Zedak for the second-highest mark in the conference.

Turning in another outstanding weekend at the top of the Wildcats' batting order was Kelsey Nader, who led the team with five hits and a .625 batting average over the weekend and scoring six runs.

Emma Raye continued her fast start to the season, hitting .600 while adding three RBI and two runs scored in Clearwater. The first-year catcher led the Wildcats over the weekend with a .778 on-base percentage, reaching base in 7-of-9 plate appearances. Raye posted the first multi-hit game of her career against No. 12 LSU, going 2-for-3 with a walk, and then proceeded to reach base four times and score two runs the following day vs. Georgia Tech.

In the circle, Ashley Miller has continued to make the most of her appearances. Miller is currently averaging a Big Ten-best 9.8 strikeouts/seven innings ratio, to go along with a team-leading 1.47 ERA (3 ER/14.1 IP) in her four appearances this year.

Clearwater Recap

Northwestern opened the weekend last Friday dropping a back-and-forth 13-12 affair with No. 12 LSU. Seven different Wildcats combined for hits as the 'Cats' bats turned in four separate innings scoring multiple runs.

Cady jumpstarted the scoring with a three run home run, her first of the season, in the top of the first inning. The very next inning, Riley Grudzielanek kept the long ball going for the 'Cats with a two-run homer to left-center to drive in her and Isabel Cunnea. It marked the second straight game the first-year Grudzielanek homered.

LSU scored in four straight innings to take a 7-5 lead, but Northwestern punched back in the fifth inning with two runs to even the game, courtesy of back-to-back RBI-singles from Cady and Raye.

After the Tigers took back an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Northwestern rallied with five runs in the sixth inning to grab a 12-8 lead. However, LSU tied the game in the bottom of the frame and then walked the game off in the seventh inning with a sacrifice fly.

Northwestern's pitching vs. LSU was affected by errors throughout the game, with six of the Tigers' 13 runs coming as unearned runs. But the Wildcats responded the following day vs. Georgia Tech with just one error and a .952 fielding percentage on their way to an emphatic 19-6 victory.

The Wildcats' picked up a five inning run-rule win over the Yellow Jackets, marking the third run-rule win for Northwestern in its last four games. Eight different Wildcats drove in runs in the win over Georgia Tech, while the 19 runs marked the third-highest output in a game by any team in the Clearwater during the weekend.

Once again, Northwestern started fast with three runs in the first inning thanks to RBI-singles from Cady and Raye. The 'Cats kept the pressure on in the second inning with Bridget Donahey and Nader each scoring on a passed ball to extend the NU lead to 5-1. The Wildcats tacked on four more runs in the third inning, headlined by a two-RBI single by Kansas Robinson with two outs.

After Georgia Tech cut the lead to just four, Northwestern promptly responded with a nine-run outburst in the top of the fifth inning. Ayana Lindsey and Cunnea each provided RBI-singles, but a three-run home run by Donahey immediately followed by a solo homer from Nader (the second of her career) was what proved to break the game open for good.

Donahey finished with a game-high four RBI and three runs scored, recording a career high three walks along with a home run to reach base in all four of her plate appearances.

Grudzielanek picked up the win in the circle, improving to 2-0 on the year, after tossing 3.1 innings while allowing two earned runs. After entering in the fourth inning with the tying run on deck, Ashley Miller picked up her second save of the season, striking out three of the five batters she faced.

Mary Nutter Look Ahead

This marks the 18th time in program history that the Wildcats have traveled to the annual Mary Nutter Classic. Last season, the Wildcats went 2-2 in the Desert which included a 9-3 win over No. 18 Kentucky and a pair of narrow 2-1 losses to No. 22 Oregon and No. 1 UCLA.

This marks the 23rd-ever meeting between UCLA and Northwestern. Northwestern is 5-17 all-time against the Bruins, in what will mark a rematch of a Women's College World Series matchup from the 2022 season. The Wildcats and their future Big Ten foe Bruins have met four different times in the WCWS over the years, more than any other opponent Northwestern has faced.

Northwestern is 15-13 all-time vs. Oregon State, with the programs' last meeting coming in 2016. The Wildcats are 7-3 all-time against Loyola Marymount, having last faced off in 2013 which saw the teams' split a pair of games throughout the non-conference slate.

The Wildcats and San Diego faced off at the Mary Nutter Classic last season, which saw NU claim a 2-1 win thanks to a two-run home run by Angela Zedak in the fifth inning. Cami Henry allowed just one unearned run in 6.0 innings pitched against the Toreros. Northwestern is 3-0 all-time against San Diego.