Northwestern
Seattle
Wildcats Head Out West For Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic
2/20/2025 8:53:00 PM | Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – For the 18th season in a row, Northwestern heads to Palm Springs for four games at one of the nation's most prestigious non-conference tournaments, the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
The Wildcats open the weekend with a Friday evening matchup vs. Seattle U at 8 pm CT/6 pm PT, followed by a Saturday doubleheader against Utah then Saint Mary's beginning at 4:30 pm CT/2:30 pm PT, and concluding with a Sunday matinee vs. California at 11am CT/9 am PT. All games will be streamed on FloSports.
Northwestern sits at 5-5 on the season through its first 10 games. In total, six of NU's first 10 games this season have come against opponents ranked in this week's latest ESPN.com/USA Softball poll. Two weeks into the season, the Wildcats have already surpassed their number of ranked matchups from the 2024 regular season (5). In total, nine of Northwestern's first 14 games of the 2025 season are against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
Most recently, the 'Cats continued its non-conference gauntlet to start the 2025 campaign with five games the Purple & Gold Challenge in Baton Rouge. The Wildcats went 2-3 over the week, capped off with an 11-3 run-rule victory over UT Arlington in five innings on Sunday.
Rookie Kaylie Avvisato is off to a red hot start to her collegiate career. Avvisato has already posted three three-hit games through just 10 career games (including against No 15 Missouri and No. 8 Duke). The rookie from Leesburg, Virginia leads the Wildcats with a .455 batting average, a 1.107 OPS, a .636 slugging percentage and four extra-base hits this year.
Grace Nieto led the Wildcats last weekend at LSU with a .462 on-base percentage and a .417 batting average (5-for-12), including matching her single-game career highs in both hits (3) and RBI (2) in a win over UT Arlington on Saturday. Both Nieto and Lauren Boyd returned to the Wildcats' lineup this 2025 season after missing the entirety of the 2024 season. Nieto currently ranks second on the team with a .391 batting average (9-for-23) on the season, while Boyd leads the pitching staff in strikeouts and allowed just one run in 7.0 IP while striking out seven to earn a win over No. 8 Duke in her second start of the season on Feb. 8.
Boyd is one of four Wildcat pitchers to make multiple appearances so far this season. Renae Cunningham has made five appearances, all out of the bullpen, and leads the Wildcats with a 2.62 ERA (4 ER/10.2 IP). Cunningham did not allow an earned run in 7.0 innings of action at LSU, striking out four batters. Riley Grudzielanek leads the 'Cats with 23.0 innings pitched and three complete games on the season, tied for second most among all Big Ten pitchers entering this weekend. Signe Dohse dazzled in her collegiate debut last weekend, allowing just two hits and one run in 5.0 innings while throwing just 58 pitches to a total of 17 batters faced.
The 'Cats went 2-2 in their trip to the Mary Nutter Classic last season, dropping a pair of one-loss affairs to UCLA and LMU, before bouncing back with wins over San Diego and Oregon State. Northwestern is 16-15 in their last seven trips to Palm Springs, dating back to 2017.
NU is 1-0 all-time against Seattle, earning a 1-0 win over the Redhawks on Feb. 7, 2020. 6-3 all-time against Utah, last facing off in the fist game of the 2020 season. Northwestern is 7-1 all-time against Saint Mary's, winning its last five meetings over the Gaels by a combined 41-5 margin, and 13-13 all-time against California, with the last two meetings coming in the 2018 NCAA Athens Regional that saw the Wildcats win a pair of dramatic one-run games.
Two years ago today...
— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) May 19, 2020
Final inning. Season on the line.
?? @WNURSports with the electric call#B1GCats | @NCAASoftball pic.twitter.com/MlsjZOuCNf
