Northwestern
NC State
Wildcats Head to South Carolina for Final Non-Conference Weekend
3/14/2024 5:36:00 PM | Softball
COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a week off, Northwestern hits the road for its final weekend of non-conference action at the Garnett & Black Invitational, hosted by South Carolina.
The Wildcats open the weekend on Friday morning with a matchup against NC State, followed by a Saturday morning matchup with #24 Boston University. First pitch for both games is slated for 9am CT. The 'Cats wrap up with a Sunday doubleheader against Minnesota at 11:30 am CT, followed by a meeting with the hosts, #23 South Carolina, at 4:30 pm.
Sunday's game at South Carolina will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Fans can follow along with the rest of the weekend's action on the Northwestern Softball twitter feed for live in-game updates.
In their last time out, the Wildcats had a rain-shortened weekend in Auburn, playing just three games at the Jane B. Moore Invitational. The Wildcats split a pair of games against North Texas, earning a 9-3 win over the Mean Green in the weekend finale, and dropped a narrow 1-0 pitcher's duel against No. 25 Auburn.
Ashley Miller led the 'Cats in the circle at Auburn, pitching a team-leading 9.0 innings in two appearances while allowing no earned runs and limiting batters to just two hits (opposing .091 batting average) and striking out 15. Miller went toe-to-toe with reigning First Team All-American Maddie Penta in NU's game against Auburn, in which a lone unearned run off a fielding error proved to be the difference. Miller held the Tigers to just two hits while striking out nine, it marked her fourth start of the season allowing one run or fewer.
Miller boasts a 0.69 ERA on the season (4 ER/40.1 IP), which ranks third in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation. Her average of 3.64 hits allowed per seven innings leads the conference, while her rate of 9.2 strikeouts per seven innings ranks second. The graduate student from Leo, Indiana has now gone 20.1 consecutive innings (five straight appearances) without allowing an earned run.
Kansas Robinson led Northwestern at the plate in Auburn, totaling five hits in 10 at-bats, including a solo home run to lead off the 'Cats' Sunday win over North Texas. Robinson, who was ranked No. 5 in the nation in Softball America's 2B midseason player rankings, currently ranks second in the Big Ten with a .452 batting average and a .538 on-base percentage. With a team-best .786 slugging percentage as well, Robinson enters this weekend trailing only Nebraska's Billie Andrews for the highest OPS (on-base + slugging percentage) in the Big Ten, with a mark of 1.324.
Bridget Donahey continued her breakout sophomore campaign at Auburn, reaching base in 7 of her 10 plate appearances. In the Wildcats' last eight games entering this weekend, Donahey leads the team in both on-base percentage (.593) and slugging percentage (1.056) while driving in a team-high seven RBI and raising her batting average up from .154 to .290 in that span. Donahey is one of three Wildcats to rank in the Top-10 in the Big Ten in on-base percentage, joining Robinson and Angela Zedak.
The Wildcats face a pair of Top-25 opponents (#24 Boston and #23 South Carolina) in their four games this weekend, meaning the Wildcats will have played five ranked opponents in their first 18 games to open their 2024 campaign. The 'Cats have dropped one-run setbacks in each of their three meetings with ranked opponents thus far (LSU, UCLA, Auburn).
Following this weekend, Northwestern returns home for six straight games at Sharon J. Drysdale Field over the span of seven days. The Wildcats will open Sharon J. Drysdale Field with back-to-back midweek matinees against DePaul (Tuesday, March 19) and UIC (Tuesday, March 20) before kicking off conference play with a weekend series vs. Michigan State.
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Opponent History
- Northwestern is 2-1 all-time against NC State, with the teams most recently splitting a pair of meetings in Raleigh during the 2018 season.
- This marks the second-ever meeting between Boston and Northwestern. The Wildcats claimed a 5-0 victory over the Terriers in their lone meeting in 2013.
- Minnesota leads the all-time series vs. Northwestern by a narrow 63-66 margin, however the 'Cats have won four straight vs. the Gophers including sweeping a three-game series in Evanston last season. Sunday's meeting between the fellow Big Ten programs will count as a non-conference result, it marks the first time Northwestern will play a Big Ten opponent as a non-conference matchup since 2019 (5-0 win at Indiana).
- Northwestern is 7-5 all-time against South Carolina. The Wildcats have won their last six meetings against the Gamecocks, all since Kate Drohan took over as head coach. Three of those six wins under Drohan came during the postseason–with the 'Cats coming from behind to earn a 5-3 extra-innings victory in the 2004 Tucson Regional, along with two straight wins in the 2007 Evanston Super Regional to help then No. 2-national seed Northwestern punch its ticket to the Women's College World Series for a second year in a row.
