Northwestern Wildcats to host NCAA softball regional
Northwestern to host NCAA softball regional originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
After a stellar 2023 season, the Northwestern Wildcats will host a regional in the upcoming NCAA softball tournament.
The Wildcats, who went 38-11 this season and were a perfect 11-0 at home, will host a regional in Evanston beginning Friday, with Kentucky, Eastern Illinois and Miami-Ohio competing for a spot in the Super Regional round.
Northwestern was 20-3 in Big Ten play, thanks to a balanced offensive attack and some strong pitching. Angela Zedak led the team with 11 home runs and posted a .393 on-base percentage. Jordyn Rudd had eight home runs of her own and led the club with 41 RBI’s.
Skyler Shellmyer tied for the team lead with a .333 batting average, and she stole 19 bases on 23 attempts.
Danielle Williams went 19-1 on the mound this season in 31 appearances. She posted a 2.19 ERA and a WHIP of 1.05. She struck out 160 batters in 131.1 innings.
Cami Henry went 10-2 in 19 appearances, and Lauren Boyd was 8-4 in 23 appearances with a team-best ERA of 2.00.
NCAA regionals are double-elimination, with the winner advancing to Super Regionals next week. Those are best-of-three events, with the winner heading to the Women’s College World Series.
The winner of the Northwestern regional would take on the winner of the Tuscaloosa regional, hosted by the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Northwestern will take on Eastern Illinois at 2:30 p.m. Friday, with the game airing on ESPN-Plus. Kentucky will play Miami in the first game of the day.
The rest of the schedule is yet to be announced.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, Minnesota will play in the Seattle regional, hosted by Washington. Northern Colorado and McNeese State will also participate.
Indiana will head to Knoxville, with Tennessee, Louisville and Northern Kentucky joining the Hoosiers.
Nebraska was slotted into the Stillwater regional, hosted by Oklahoma State. Wichita State and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County will also compete there.
