Sunday, February 23
Cathedral City, Calif.
11 am CT
Northwestern
6-8
7
vs
15
California
10-4
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Northwestern
3
3
0
1
0
7
7
2
Cal
1
7
0
0
7
15
10
0
Wildcats Conclude Weekend at Mary Nutter Classic
2/24/2025 9:12:00 AM | Softball
Cathedral City, Calif. – Northwestern wrapped up its weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic taking one of four games, winning a 6-1 contest over Utah on Saturday while dropping decisions to Seattle U, Saint Mary's and California.
The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend at the University of Louisville – opening the weekend with Central Michigan, followed by a pair of games against Longwood and finishing with two against the hosts, Louisville.
Grace Nieto led the Wildcats at the plate for a second-straight weekend, going 5-for-11 with four runs scored, a double, a homer and two RBI. Against Cal, she went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, tying her single-game career high in hits in what marked her third three-hit performance on the year. Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season on Sunday, Nieto led off the game with her first home run in nearly three years (April 23, 2022 at Indiana), hitting an opposite field shot to left-center field for the third homer of her career.
Bridget Donahey also homered in the Wildcats' weekend finale against Cal, hitting a two-out, two-run shot to center field in the first inning for her team-leading second homer of the season. Donahey finished the weekend hitting .375 (3-for-8) with four runs scored while leading the team in slugging percentage (.875) and on-base percentage (.545).
Lauren Boyd earned the win against Utah on Saturday, pitching 6.2 innings while allowing just four hits and one run, striking out six. Boyd improves to 2-2 on the season, it marked her third outing of the season going 5.0+ innings, while her six strikeouts were the second-most in an outing by a Wildcat pitcher since Boyd struck out seven in a win over. No. 8 Duke on Feb. 8.
The 'Cats opened the weekend with a narrow 3-2 setback to Seattle U on Friday evening. Trailing 2-1 entering the top of the seventh inning, Northwestern fought back to even the game and head to the bottom of the frame. With one out and runners on second and third, the Redhawks winning run came around to score on an obstruction call at home plate to decide the game.
Six Wildcats recorded hits in Friday's game, five of which were doubles, the most doubles in a game by any team at the Mary Nutter Classic over the weekend. In the circle, Signe Dohse made her second career start in the circle and allowed just five hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. Renae Cunningham entered in relief and allowed just one hit in seven batters faced, surrendering a lone unearned run.
Against Utah on Saturday, the 'Cats entered the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 1-1 before exploding for five runs in the frame to put the game out of reach. Emma Raye drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI-single to left field, while Kelsey Nader broke the game open with a two-RBI double to center field to drive in Avery Garden and Hannah Cushing.
Riley Grudzielanek got the ball to start the second game on Saturday vs. Saint Mary's and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to start, before surrendering two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Grudzielanek finished with a final line of 5.1 innings, seven hits, two runs and three strikeouts. Cunningham, who also earned the final out vs. Utah, pitched the final 1.2 innings of game two, allowing no hits over the six batters she faced. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Northwestern put two runners on and brought the potential winning run to the plate with two outs, but was unable to convert.
On Sunday, the Wildcats opened the game with three runs in the top of the first frame, thanks to homers from Nieto and Donahey. NU tacked on three more runs in the second frame via a sacrifice fly from Kaylie Avvisato and a two-out RBI-double from Kansas Robinson. However, the Golden Bears scored seven runs, six of which were unearned, in the bottom of the second inning to grab an 8-6 lead.
The 'Cats cut the deficit to one in the fourth inning off an RBI-single from Avvisato, her third RBI of the weekend, but a seven-spot from Cal in the bottom of the fifth inning ended the game via run-rule, 15-7.
First pitch for Friday morning's game vs. Central Michigan is scheduled for 9 am CT, with the second game of the day against Longwood slated for 2 pm CT.
The Wildcats will be back in action next weekend at the University of Louisville – opening the weekend with Central Michigan, followed by a pair of games against Longwood and finishing with two against the hosts, Louisville.
Grace Nieto led the Wildcats at the plate for a second-straight weekend, going 5-for-11 with four runs scored, a double, a homer and two RBI. Against Cal, she went 3-for-3 with three runs scored, tying her single-game career high in hits in what marked her third three-hit performance on the year. Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season on Sunday, Nieto led off the game with her first home run in nearly three years (April 23, 2022 at Indiana), hitting an opposite field shot to left-center field for the third homer of her career.
Bridget Donahey also homered in the Wildcats' weekend finale against Cal, hitting a two-out, two-run shot to center field in the first inning for her team-leading second homer of the season. Donahey finished the weekend hitting .375 (3-for-8) with four runs scored while leading the team in slugging percentage (.875) and on-base percentage (.545).
Lauren Boyd earned the win against Utah on Saturday, pitching 6.2 innings while allowing just four hits and one run, striking out six. Boyd improves to 2-2 on the season, it marked her third outing of the season going 5.0+ innings, while her six strikeouts were the second-most in an outing by a Wildcat pitcher since Boyd struck out seven in a win over. No. 8 Duke on Feb. 8.
The 'Cats opened the weekend with a narrow 3-2 setback to Seattle U on Friday evening. Trailing 2-1 entering the top of the seventh inning, Northwestern fought back to even the game and head to the bottom of the frame. With one out and runners on second and third, the Redhawks winning run came around to score on an obstruction call at home plate to decide the game.
Six Wildcats recorded hits in Friday's game, five of which were doubles, the most doubles in a game by any team at the Mary Nutter Classic over the weekend. In the circle, Signe Dohse made her second career start in the circle and allowed just five hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. Renae Cunningham entered in relief and allowed just one hit in seven batters faced, surrendering a lone unearned run.
Against Utah on Saturday, the 'Cats entered the bottom of the sixth inning tied at 1-1 before exploding for five runs in the frame to put the game out of reach. Emma Raye drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI-single to left field, while Kelsey Nader broke the game open with a two-RBI double to center field to drive in Avery Garden and Hannah Cushing.
Riley Grudzielanek got the ball to start the second game on Saturday vs. Saint Mary's and tossed 5.0 scoreless innings to start, before surrendering two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Grudzielanek finished with a final line of 5.1 innings, seven hits, two runs and three strikeouts. Cunningham, who also earned the final out vs. Utah, pitched the final 1.2 innings of game two, allowing no hits over the six batters she faced. Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Northwestern put two runners on and brought the potential winning run to the plate with two outs, but was unable to convert.
On Sunday, the Wildcats opened the game with three runs in the top of the first frame, thanks to homers from Nieto and Donahey. NU tacked on three more runs in the second frame via a sacrifice fly from Kaylie Avvisato and a two-out RBI-double from Kansas Robinson. However, the Golden Bears scored seven runs, six of which were unearned, in the bottom of the second inning to grab an 8-6 lead.
The 'Cats cut the deficit to one in the fourth inning off an RBI-single from Avvisato, her third RBI of the weekend, but a seven-spot from Cal in the bottom of the fifth inning ended the game via run-rule, 15-7.
First pitch for Friday morning's game vs. Central Michigan is scheduled for 9 am CT, with the second game of the day against Longwood slated for 2 pm CT.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Ashanti McDade (2-0)
L: Cunningham, Renae (1-2)
Batting:
2B: Robinson, Kansas 1
HR: Nieto, Grace 1 ; Donahey, Bridget 1
RBI: Nieto, Grace 1 ; Avvisato, Kaylie 2 ; Robinson, Kansas 1 ; Donahey, Bridget 2
SF: Avvisato, Kaylie 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nieto, Grace 3 ; Nader, Kelsey 1 ; Robinson, Kansas 1 ; Donahey, Bridget 1 ; Lindsey, Ayana 1
HBP: Nader, Kelsey 1 ; Donahey, Bridget 1 ; Lindsey, Ayana 1
Batting:
2B: Acacia Anders 1 ; Kaylee Pond 1
HR: Elon Butler 1
RBI: Lagi Quiroga 2 ; Elon Butler 4 ; Acacia Anders 1 ; Kaylee Pond 2 ; Alyssa Herrera 1 ; Tianna Bell 2 ; Mia Phillips 1
SH: Mika Lee 1
SF: Kaylee Pond 1 ; Mia Phillips 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Lagi Quiroga 3 ; Elon Butler 2 ; Acacia Anders 2 ; Kaylee Pond 1 ; Kayli Counts 1 ; Alyssa Herrera 1 ; Tianna Bell 1 ; Xiomei Geluz 1 ; Mia Phillips 2 ; Mika Lee 1
HBP: Tianna Bell 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
3
H
3
RBI
1
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
1
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ Softball
P/IF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P/U
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
UTL
/ Softball
P/IF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballSoftball - 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
