Northwestern
Central Michigan
Wildcats Head to Louisville for Five Games at Cardinal Classic
2/27/2025 6:26:00 PM | Softball
Louisville, Ky. – Northwestern Softball is back in action this weekend with five games at the Cardinal Classic, hosted by the University of Louisville.
The Wildcats will open the weekend against Central Michigan on Friday at 9 am CT, followed by a 2 pm CT matinee vs. Longwood. On Saturday, the 'Cats play a doubleheader against Longwood (2 pm CT) and the hosts, Louisville (4:30 pm CT). Northwestern wraps up the weekend on Sunday vs. Louisville at 11:30 am CT. Both games against Louisville will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.
Most recently, the 'Cats traveled to the prestigious Mary Nutter Classic for four games in Cathedral City, California, earning a 6-1 win over Utah on Saturday while dropping contests to Seattle U, Saint Mary's and California.
Northwestern currently holds a strength of schedule of 18th in the nation among 309 total D1 programs, including the second-highest in the Big Ten behind UCLA (7th). In total, nine of NU's first 14 games of the 2025 campaign have been against teams that qualified for last season's NCAA Tournament. With six ranked matchups this year, the Wildcats have already surpassed their number of ranked opponents from the 2024 season (5).
Grace Nieto has led the Wildcats at the plate in back-to-back weekends, most recently going 5-for-11 with four runs scored, a double, a homer and two RBI in four games. In the weekend finale vs. Cal, she went 3-for-3 with a career-high three runs scored. Batting in the leadoff spot for the first time this season, Nieto led off the game with her first home run in nearly three years (April 23, 2022 at Indiana). The senior from Farmington Hills, Michigan leads the team with a .412 batting average (14-for-34) on the season.
Bridget Donahey led the Wildcats in slugging percentage (.875) and on-base percentage (.545) last weekend at the Mary Nutter Classic, including a two-run home run on Sunday vs. California in what marked her second homer of the season. The junior from Phoenix, Arizona carries a team-leading 1.056 OPS entering this weekend, leading the team with 10 walks and a .500 on-base percentage, while her .556 slugging percentage is second on the team only behind Nieto.
Kaylie Avvisato has wasted no time getting started in her rookie season with the Wildcats. Avvisato leads the team with 18 hits, 24 total bases, four stolen bases and seven RBI on the season. Avvisato's .409 batting average is second on the team behind only Nieto, and third among all first years in the Big Ten (Rylee McCoy; Oregon, Talia Tretton; Iowa). Northwestern is one of just six teams in the conference to have multiple qualified hitters with a batting average over .400 (Purdue, Nebraska, Indiana, Ohio State, UCLA).
In the circle, Northwestern has seen four pitchers make at least four appearances this season, with each throwing 14.0+ innings. Riley Grudzielanek leads the Wildcats with 29.2 innings pitched, Lauren Boyd (25.1 IP) leads the team with 19 strikeouts, Signe Dohse (15.0 IP) leads the pitching staff with a .254 batting average against, while Renae Cunningham (14.1 IP) leads the team with a 1.95 ERA.
Northwestern is 4-6 all-time against Central Michigan and 1-0 all-time vs. Longwood, with the Wildcats' last meeting against each program coming during their historic 2006 season that saw the 'Cats make the Women's College World Series and earn a national runner up finish. Northwestern is 10-6 all-time against Louisville, most recently winning a pair of games against the Cardinals (4-1, 11-1) in the 2023 Cardinal Classic. Most notably in the series history vs. Louisville was the 2019 campaign, when the two teams faced off a combined six times over the course of the season that included a dramatic game seven in the 2019 NCAA Evanston Regional in which Northwestern earned a 4-3 victory to advance to the Super Regionals.
