2019 Softball Roster
Nelson, Maeve
Jersey Number 4
Maeve Nelson
- Position:
- Infield
- Height:
- 5-9
- Class:
- First-Year
- High School:
- Oak Park River Forest
- Hometown:
- River Forest, Illinois
Bio
Career Highlights
2023: Started all 55 games at shortstop ... Hit .242 with a .404 on-base percentage ... Posted a .372 batting average and 1.165 OPS over her final 16 games ... Tallied a single, walk, run scored, and RBI in the season-opener against South Alabama (2/10) ... Went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base to help beat Notre Dame (2/19) ... Drove in three runs in a win over No. 19 Kentucky (2/25) ... Tripled and walked twice against Northern Kentucky (3/4) ... Went 2-for-3 with a double against No. 19 Auburn (3/18) ... Walked three times and scored twice in a win over Iowa (4/1) ... Blasted her first homer of the season against Illinois (4/5) ... Went 2-for-4 with a RBI-double and stolen base to help beat Penn State (4/7) ... Hit .500 (4-for-8) with four walks, three runs scored, and a double in a three-game sweep of Nebraska (4/28-30) ... Went 2-for-3 with a walk and stolen base against Rutgers (5/6) ... Homered in the regular season finale against Rutgers (5/7) ... Launched a homer to help beat Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals (5/12) ... Hit a walk-off single to win the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana (5/13) ... Went 4-for-8 with a home run in the Evanston Regional (5/19-21) ... Homered in the final at bat of her career in the seventh inning of game 3 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional (5/28).
2022: Started all 58 games at shortstop ... Second Team All-Big Ten ... Hit .279 with 12 home runs, second most on the team, and a .992 OPS, third highest on the team ... Blasted her first home run of the season in a win over Eastern Kentucky (2/13) ... Reached base three times and stole a base against Texas Tech (2/18) ... Launched a three-run walk-off homer with two outs in the eighth inning to knock off No. 3 UCLA (2/18) ... Walked seven times in five games at the Mary Nutter Classic (2/25-27) ... Ripped a two-run double against Northern Kentucky (3/4) ... Singled, doubled, and homered against Murray State (3/5) ... Homered against Ball State (3/6) ... Scored three runs against Ball State (3/19) ... Roped a RBI-double against Stanford (3/20) ... Crushed a home run onto the roof of Welsh-Ryan Arena and doubled to help beat Michigan (4/1) ... Tripled and walked against Michigan (4/3) ... Blasted a grand slam and walked twice to help beat Ohio State (4/10) ... Tallied two hits and two RBI against Ohio State (4/10) ... Tied the program record with eight RBI in a two-homer day against Purdue (4/17) ... Went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in a win over Iowa (4/29) ... Went 3-for-3 with a double and home run to help beat Minnesota in the regular season finale (5/8) ... Crushed two home runs to help beat Oakland in the first round of the Evanston Regional (5/20) ... Singled, walked, and scored the winning run in the 11th inning of the game one win in the Tempe Super Regional against Arizona State (5/27) ... Roped a RBI-single and walked in game two of the Super Regional (5/28) ... Went 3-for-4 and drove in the go-ahead run in game three to help the 'Cats win the Tempe Super Regional (5/29) ... Went 1-for-2 with an RBI in game one of the WCWS against Oklahoma (6/2).
2021: Started all 47 games at shortstop ... Posted a .268 average (38-for-142) and .835 OPS ... HIt .328 (22-for-67) in her final 22 games ... Finished the regular season with 11 doubles, seventh-most in the Big Ten ... Hit a bases-clearing triple, the first of her career, to help defeat Michigan State (2/26) ... Recorded a two-run single in a win over Rutgers (2/27) ... Doubled twice and collected a RBI against Penn State (2/28) ... Crushed RBI-doubles in back-to-back days against Indiana (3/11-3/12) ... Reached base four times, three walks and a single, against Maryland (4/3) ... Tallied three RBI, two runs, and a double in a win over Maryland (4/4) ... Crushed a two-run home run, her first of the year, against Minnesota (4/10) ... Had a career-high four hits in a game one win over Iowa, then went 2-for-4 and blasted a home run in a game two win (4/17) ... Blasted a two-run homer against Michigan (4/24) ... Reached base in seven-straight plate appearances over three games against Illinois, collecting a home run, triple, double, three singles and a walk (5/1-5/2) ... Ripped an RBI-double against Purdue (5/7) ... Went 3-for-4 with a triple to help down Nebraska (5/15).
2020: Started all 23 games of the truncated season at shortstop … Tied for second in the Big Ten with seven home runs … Led the Wildcats with a .615 slugging percentage, 40 total bases, a 1.015 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and 17 RBI … Hit .262 (17-for-65) with a .400 on-base percentage overall … Walked and scored a run versus Tennessee (2/8) … Tallied her first RBI of the season with a two-out single against Arizona State (2/8) … Hit her first home run of the season in a win against Portland State (2/9) ... Hit a game tying double to help defeat Kansas (2/15) ... Smashed a three-run homer against No. 15 Oregon (2/22) … Hit three home runs in five at bats and collected four runs and four RBI in a double-header against Abilene Christian (2/29) ... Crushed a grand slam as a part of a five RBI day in the season finale against Oakland (3/8).
2019: Started all 60 games for the Wildcats at shortstop ... Earned second team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors along with an NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes) Third Team selection ... Led the team during Big Ten play with 24 hits, a .329 batting average and 18 RBI and did not commit a single error in 23 conference games ... Recorded an RBI-single and a run scored in her Northwestern debut, a 12-0 win over Utah State (2/8) … Reached base twice with a walk and a single in a 1-0 victory vs. Louisville (2/9) … Hit a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning against Loyola Marymount (2/9) ... Hit the eventual game-winning home run in the top of the ninth inning to help defeat Louisville (2/15) ... Went 1-for-3 with two walks against North Carolina (2/15) ... Hit one double and reached base twice in victory vs. BYI (2/22) ... Hit one double and recorded two RBI in a victory over Duke (2/22) ... Went 1-for-3 and hit a three-run homer in a 10-0 shutout vs. Utah (2/23) ... Scored in the second inning against Long Beach State (2/23) ... Scored two runs and hit a solo home run, in a win over Cal Poly (3/1) ... Reached base in two of her three plate appearances against Stanford (3/1) ... Knocked in the eventual game-winning RBI with a single in the first inning against Montana (3/3) ... Doubled and walked and came around to score both times in a victory over Tulsa (3/9) ... Scored three times, each of them coming after drawing a walk, to help defeat Grand Canyon (3/9) ... Homered in back-to-back games against Indiana (3/16) and Rutgers (3/22), scoring four runs over the two-game stretch ... Doubled and scored the eventual game-winning run in the first inning versus Rutgers (3/23) ... Went 5-for-10 over the course of a series against Iowa (3/29-3/31) while adding 4 RBIs, 3 runs scored and a home run ... Homered to extend the lead in a win over Nebraska (4/5) ... Went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored against Wisconsin (4/13) ... Went 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored against Purdue (4/19) ... Hit a two-run homer to help defeat Illinois (4/23) ... Went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored against Michigan State (4/26) ... Homered twice and hit an RBI single to rack up a career-high four RBIs in a win over Michigan State (4/27).
At-Bats....................................5 (7x), vs. Indiana (4/23/22)
Hits.....................................................4, vs. Iowa (4/17/21)
Runs...................................3 (2x), vs. Ball State (3/19/22)
RBI.................................................8, vs. Purdue (4/17/22)
Doubles....................................2, vs. Penn State (2/28/21)
Triples......................1 (5x), vs. Northern Kentucky (3/4/23)
Home Runs........................... 2 (4x), vs. Oakland (5/20/22)
Total Bases......................................9, vs. Purdue (4/17/22)
Walks.............................................3 (5x), vs. Iowa (4/1/23)
Stolen Bases......................1 (12x), vs. Penn State (4/7/23)
High School: An all-state, all-conference and Chicago Tribune all-area selection in each of her high school seasons, she is ranked as a top-200 national recruit by FloSoftball … Named an All-American as a sophomore, junior and senior … First-Team FloSoftball All-American infielder in 2018 ... Career high school batting average is over .500 with 165 runs scored and 149 RBIs in three seasons … Broke the OPRF single-season home run record with 10 in 2016 before breaking it again with 13 in 2017 … Hit a two-strike, two-out, seventh-inning game-tying triple in the 2016 Illinois state title game … Team won the state title in both 2016 and 2017 while finishing third in 2015 … OPRF team was ranked third in the nation … Played eight years of club ball with the Oak Park Windmills and two years with the Beverly Bandits … Bandits won the 2017 Boulder Independence Day Tournament, were second at the 2017 PGF Shootout and finished third at the 2017 PGF Nationals … Also lettered in basketball and volleyball in high school, serving as captain of the two-time conference champion basketball squad … Class valedictorian and cum laude … Has made the dean's list and the honor roll in every semester … Won the Pascal Math Award … Illinois State Scholar.
Personal: Born Maeve Mullarkey Nelson … Daughter of Ellen and Scott Nelson … Mom played volleyball at Iowa … Sister, Allie Nelson, plays volleyball at Kansas … Father played minor league baseball … Knows how to sing opera and competitively rode horses in barrel racing … High school has produced such diverse talents as Olympic softball gold medalist Dani Tyler, rap artist and actor Ludacris, NBA guard Iman Shumpert, celebrated American novelist and journalist Ernest Hemingway, and former NUSB student-athletes Aly Euler and Jessica Rigas … Majoring in industrial engineering.
- Program leader with 243 games played at shortstop
- 2x Second Team All-Big Ten
- 40 home runs, ninth most in team history
- 123 walks, ninth most in program history
2023: Started all 55 games at shortstop ... Hit .242 with a .404 on-base percentage ... Posted a .372 batting average and 1.165 OPS over her final 16 games ... Tallied a single, walk, run scored, and RBI in the season-opener against South Alabama (2/10) ... Went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base to help beat Notre Dame (2/19) ... Drove in three runs in a win over No. 19 Kentucky (2/25) ... Tripled and walked twice against Northern Kentucky (3/4) ... Went 2-for-3 with a double against No. 19 Auburn (3/18) ... Walked three times and scored twice in a win over Iowa (4/1) ... Blasted her first homer of the season against Illinois (4/5) ... Went 2-for-4 with a RBI-double and stolen base to help beat Penn State (4/7) ... Hit .500 (4-for-8) with four walks, three runs scored, and a double in a three-game sweep of Nebraska (4/28-30) ... Went 2-for-3 with a walk and stolen base against Rutgers (5/6) ... Homered in the regular season finale against Rutgers (5/7) ... Launched a homer to help beat Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals (5/12) ... Hit a walk-off single to win the Big Ten Tournament against Indiana (5/13) ... Went 4-for-8 with a home run in the Evanston Regional (5/19-21) ... Homered in the final at bat of her career in the seventh inning of game 3 of the Tuscaloosa Super Regional (5/28).
2022: Started all 58 games at shortstop ... Second Team All-Big Ten ... Hit .279 with 12 home runs, second most on the team, and a .992 OPS, third highest on the team ... Blasted her first home run of the season in a win over Eastern Kentucky (2/13) ... Reached base three times and stole a base against Texas Tech (2/18) ... Launched a three-run walk-off homer with two outs in the eighth inning to knock off No. 3 UCLA (2/18) ... Walked seven times in five games at the Mary Nutter Classic (2/25-27) ... Ripped a two-run double against Northern Kentucky (3/4) ... Singled, doubled, and homered against Murray State (3/5) ... Homered against Ball State (3/6) ... Scored three runs against Ball State (3/19) ... Roped a RBI-double against Stanford (3/20) ... Crushed a home run onto the roof of Welsh-Ryan Arena and doubled to help beat Michigan (4/1) ... Tripled and walked against Michigan (4/3) ... Blasted a grand slam and walked twice to help beat Ohio State (4/10) ... Tallied two hits and two RBI against Ohio State (4/10) ... Tied the program record with eight RBI in a two-homer day against Purdue (4/17) ... Went 2-for-3 with a home run and three RBI in a win over Iowa (4/29) ... Went 3-for-3 with a double and home run to help beat Minnesota in the regular season finale (5/8) ... Crushed two home runs to help beat Oakland in the first round of the Evanston Regional (5/20) ... Singled, walked, and scored the winning run in the 11th inning of the game one win in the Tempe Super Regional against Arizona State (5/27) ... Roped a RBI-single and walked in game two of the Super Regional (5/28) ... Went 3-for-4 and drove in the go-ahead run in game three to help the 'Cats win the Tempe Super Regional (5/29) ... Went 1-for-2 with an RBI in game one of the WCWS against Oklahoma (6/2).
2021: Started all 47 games at shortstop ... Posted a .268 average (38-for-142) and .835 OPS ... HIt .328 (22-for-67) in her final 22 games ... Finished the regular season with 11 doubles, seventh-most in the Big Ten ... Hit a bases-clearing triple, the first of her career, to help defeat Michigan State (2/26) ... Recorded a two-run single in a win over Rutgers (2/27) ... Doubled twice and collected a RBI against Penn State (2/28) ... Crushed RBI-doubles in back-to-back days against Indiana (3/11-3/12) ... Reached base four times, three walks and a single, against Maryland (4/3) ... Tallied three RBI, two runs, and a double in a win over Maryland (4/4) ... Crushed a two-run home run, her first of the year, against Minnesota (4/10) ... Had a career-high four hits in a game one win over Iowa, then went 2-for-4 and blasted a home run in a game two win (4/17) ... Blasted a two-run homer against Michigan (4/24) ... Reached base in seven-straight plate appearances over three games against Illinois, collecting a home run, triple, double, three singles and a walk (5/1-5/2) ... Ripped an RBI-double against Purdue (5/7) ... Went 3-for-4 with a triple to help down Nebraska (5/15).
2020: Started all 23 games of the truncated season at shortstop … Tied for second in the Big Ten with seven home runs … Led the Wildcats with a .615 slugging percentage, 40 total bases, a 1.015 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) and 17 RBI … Hit .262 (17-for-65) with a .400 on-base percentage overall … Walked and scored a run versus Tennessee (2/8) … Tallied her first RBI of the season with a two-out single against Arizona State (2/8) … Hit her first home run of the season in a win against Portland State (2/9) ... Hit a game tying double to help defeat Kansas (2/15) ... Smashed a three-run homer against No. 15 Oregon (2/22) … Hit three home runs in five at bats and collected four runs and four RBI in a double-header against Abilene Christian (2/29) ... Crushed a grand slam as a part of a five RBI day in the season finale against Oakland (3/8).
2019: Started all 60 games for the Wildcats at shortstop ... Earned second team All-Big Ten and Big Ten All-Freshman Team honors along with an NFCA All-Region (Great Lakes) Third Team selection ... Led the team during Big Ten play with 24 hits, a .329 batting average and 18 RBI and did not commit a single error in 23 conference games ... Recorded an RBI-single and a run scored in her Northwestern debut, a 12-0 win over Utah State (2/8) … Reached base twice with a walk and a single in a 1-0 victory vs. Louisville (2/9) … Hit a game-tying RBI double in the sixth inning against Loyola Marymount (2/9) ... Hit the eventual game-winning home run in the top of the ninth inning to help defeat Louisville (2/15) ... Went 1-for-3 with two walks against North Carolina (2/15) ... Hit one double and reached base twice in victory vs. BYI (2/22) ... Hit one double and recorded two RBI in a victory over Duke (2/22) ... Went 1-for-3 and hit a three-run homer in a 10-0 shutout vs. Utah (2/23) ... Scored in the second inning against Long Beach State (2/23) ... Scored two runs and hit a solo home run, in a win over Cal Poly (3/1) ... Reached base in two of her three plate appearances against Stanford (3/1) ... Knocked in the eventual game-winning RBI with a single in the first inning against Montana (3/3) ... Doubled and walked and came around to score both times in a victory over Tulsa (3/9) ... Scored three times, each of them coming after drawing a walk, to help defeat Grand Canyon (3/9) ... Homered in back-to-back games against Indiana (3/16) and Rutgers (3/22), scoring four runs over the two-game stretch ... Doubled and scored the eventual game-winning run in the first inning versus Rutgers (3/23) ... Went 5-for-10 over the course of a series against Iowa (3/29-3/31) while adding 4 RBIs, 3 runs scored and a home run ... Homered to extend the lead in a win over Nebraska (4/5) ... Went 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored against Wisconsin (4/13) ... Went 1-for-4 with an RBI and run scored against Purdue (4/19) ... Hit a two-run homer to help defeat Illinois (4/23) ... Went 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored against Michigan State (4/26) ... Homered twice and hit an RBI single to rack up a career-high four RBIs in a win over Michigan State (4/27).
Career Highs:
At-Bats....................................5 (7x), vs. Indiana (4/23/22)
Hits.....................................................4, vs. Iowa (4/17/21)
Runs...................................3 (2x), vs. Ball State (3/19/22)
RBI.................................................8, vs. Purdue (4/17/22)
Doubles....................................2, vs. Penn State (2/28/21)
Triples......................1 (5x), vs. Northern Kentucky (3/4/23)
Home Runs........................... 2 (4x), vs. Oakland (5/20/22)
Total Bases......................................9, vs. Purdue (4/17/22)
Walks.............................................3 (5x), vs. Iowa (4/1/23)
Stolen Bases......................1 (12x), vs. Penn State (4/7/23)
High School: An all-state, all-conference and Chicago Tribune all-area selection in each of her high school seasons, she is ranked as a top-200 national recruit by FloSoftball … Named an All-American as a sophomore, junior and senior … First-Team FloSoftball All-American infielder in 2018 ... Career high school batting average is over .500 with 165 runs scored and 149 RBIs in three seasons … Broke the OPRF single-season home run record with 10 in 2016 before breaking it again with 13 in 2017 … Hit a two-strike, two-out, seventh-inning game-tying triple in the 2016 Illinois state title game … Team won the state title in both 2016 and 2017 while finishing third in 2015 … OPRF team was ranked third in the nation … Played eight years of club ball with the Oak Park Windmills and two years with the Beverly Bandits … Bandits won the 2017 Boulder Independence Day Tournament, were second at the 2017 PGF Shootout and finished third at the 2017 PGF Nationals … Also lettered in basketball and volleyball in high school, serving as captain of the two-time conference champion basketball squad … Class valedictorian and cum laude … Has made the dean's list and the honor roll in every semester … Won the Pascal Math Award … Illinois State Scholar.
Personal: Born Maeve Mullarkey Nelson … Daughter of Ellen and Scott Nelson … Mom played volleyball at Iowa … Sister, Allie Nelson, plays volleyball at Kansas … Father played minor league baseball … Knows how to sing opera and competitively rode horses in barrel racing … High school has produced such diverse talents as Olympic softball gold medalist Dani Tyler, rap artist and actor Ludacris, NBA guard Iman Shumpert, celebrated American novelist and journalist Ernest Hemingway, and former NUSB student-athletes Aly Euler and Jessica Rigas … Majoring in industrial engineering.
Couldn’t turn down the opportunity to wear purple one last time with my best friends and under the GREATEST coaching staff. See you next year, @NUSBcats ! ?? #BeRemarkable https://t.co/hC4RUdt8j8
— maeve nelson (@maeve_nelson) June 17, 2022
Softball - Lauren Boyd Tosses Complete Game Shutout, 'Cats Blank Kentucky in NCAA Regional (5/16/25)
Friday, May 16
Softball - 'Cats Storm Back, Secure Series Victory at No. 8 UCLA (5/4/25)
Sunday, May 04
Softball - 'Cats Earn 8-0 Run-Rule Win at No. 8 UCLA (5/2/25)
Saturday, May 03
Softball - Kaylie Avvisato Hits Walk-Off Home Run, 'Cats Take Series vs. Wisconsin (4/27/25)
Sunday, April 27
