Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Boise State
Wildcats Open 2024 Season at Kajikawa Classic
2/8/2024 12:21:00 PM | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – Softball is back. Northwestern is ready to start off its 2024 season this weekend with five games at the Kajikawa Classic.
The Wildcats will kick off opening day on Friday with a pair of matchups against Boise State (11:30 am CT) and Arizona State (5 pm CT), both being played at ASU's Farrington Stadium. The 'Cats then face off against Weber State (11:30 am CT) and St. Thomas (2:15 pm CT) in a Saturday doubleheader played at Grand Canyon University before wrapping up the weekend with a rematch against Weber State on Sunday at 10 am CT.
Friday's evening game against Arizona State will be broadcast live on the Pac 12 Network. Fans can follow along the rest of the weekend with live updates on the Northwestern Softball Twitter feed (@NUSBCats).
The 'Cats are coming off a memorable 2023 campaign that saw them finish 42-13 and sweep both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. It marked the second-straight season in which the Wildcats were crowned Big Ten regular season champions, their first time repeating as conference champions in 36 years. NU earned the No. 12 national seed in the NCAA Tournament and secured its third NCAA Regional title in the last four tournaments.
Northwestern will once again challenge itself with one of the nation's toughest schedules. The Wildcats 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. This preseason, the Wildcats were ranked in both the ESPN/USA Softball and NFCA Coaches polls, earning a No. 25 and No. 20 ranking, respectively.
This marks the 23rd season at the helm for head coach Kate Drohan, tying her with the legendary Sharon Drysdale for the longest tenured coaching stint in program history. Alongside her twin sister, Caryl, Drohan is the program's all-time wins leader with 745 victories, which rank fifth-most all-time among Big Ten coaches.
Northwestern brings back multiple starters from the 2023 campaign. Graduate student Angela Zedak returns for her fifth season starting in left field. Last season, Zedak led the Wildcats with 12 home runs and posted career highs across the board with a .315 batting average, 41 RBI, 40 runs scored and a .586 slugging percentage. The Chicago native has posted 102 RBI, 27 home runs and a career .831 OPS during her career in Evanston.
Returning in the hot corner for her senior season is Hannah Cady. Cady has started every game at third base over the last two seasons and has earned All-Big Ten honors in each of those two seasons. As a junior, Cady set new career highs with a .285 batting average and .904 OPS en route to earning Second team All-Big Ten recognition.
Kansas Robinson and Kelsey Nader return for their sophomore seasons following breakout rookie campaigns that saw both land on the 2023 Big Ten All-Freshman team and Robinson earn NFCA All-Region honors. Robinson ranked second on the team with a 1.001 OPS, the highest mark by a NU first-year since Rachel Lewis in 2018, and tied for second on the team with nine home runs–all of which came over the final two months of the season. Nader started 48 games for the Wildcats in right field as a first-year, hitting .315 while scoring 26 runs.
The Wildcats also welcome eight first-year newcomers to the roster, as well as graduate transfer pitcher Ashley Miller. Miller joins the Wildcats after spending three seasons leading the Michigan State pitching rotation, where she tallied 472 strikeouts in 420.1 innings pitched (third-most all-time in MSU history) while earning NFCA All-Region recognition.
Friday's meeting against Arizona State will mark the 'Cats first against the Sun Devils since the 2022 NCAA Super Regionals, which saw Northwestern erase a five-run deficit in a winner-take-all Game Three en route to a thrilling 8-6 victory to punch its ticket to the Women's College World Series for the sixth time in program history. In addition, the Wildcats are 2-1 all-time against Boise State and 2-0 against Weber State.
