Softball: Five things to know from a frustrating weekend in Baton Rouge

Northwestern feels stuck in the middle.

Frustration isn’t a feeling I’m used to when talking about Northwestern softball. Unfortunately, it was a common feeling this weekend as Northwestern traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the Purple & Gold Challenge. The frustration first crept in when I realized three of the team’s five games on the weekend weren’t being broadcasted anywhere, leaving me no choice but to feverishly cling to my computer waiting for live stat updates.

The majority of my frustration, however, was a result of the final scores. In the two games I could watch, No. 7 LSU thrashed the Wildcats, winning by a combined score of 15-1. On Friday afternoon, Northwestern was on the wrong end of a perfect game, falling to No. 18 Virginia Tech 3-0. Northwestern was able to salvage the weekend with two convincing wins over UT Arlington, but I can’t help but feel like Northwestern is stuck.

With the exception of the Duke contest last weekend, Northwestern has looked like a team that beats up on inferior opponents but struggles to keep pace any time it faces national powerhouses. It’s the same story from last year’s NCAA Regional, and while it may be too early in the season to levy any real criticism, these early season contests are more than just a chance to grow — they have real stakes when it comes down to NCAA Tournament seeding. So far, in six games against ranked opponents, Northwestern is 1-5 and has scored just six runs in those contests — four of which came in the win over Duke.

Now that my mini vent session is out of the way, let’s dive into the most important takeaways from the weekend:

1. Strikeouts upon strikeouts upon strikeouts

Northwestern’s weekend got off to a poor start on Friday when Virginia Tech’s Emma Lemley threw a perfect game. Seven innings. No walks. No hits. And craziest of all? Lemley struck out 16 Wildcats. Yes, that means that of the 21 outs recorded, 16 came via the K. It made for an easy evening for the Hokie defense and an ugly final report in the final box score. But whatever, it’s one bad outing.

The next morning, LSU’s Jayden Heavener, fresh off a perfect game in her first career start, was able to do similar damage to the Wildcat lineup. She struck out 12 more batters, five of whom went down looking. Credit where it’s due — Northwestern largely cleaned up its act in the back half of the weekend with just 10 combined strikeouts in the final three contests, but the overall numbers are still jarring. Through two weekends, no Big Ten team has struck out more than Northwestern. It’s no secret that Northwestern’s offense has been a little slow out of the gate this year, and the inability to put the ball in play is the main culprit.

2. Star slumping

Northwestern needs Kansas Robinson at her best, and so far, Northwestern’s 2024 leader in most of the important offensive categories has been in a bit of a slump. The aforementioned strikeouts have been a major issue for Robinson, who has struck out 11 times so far in the young year, the second most of any player in the Big Ten. The 11 strikeouts are more than half her season total from a year ago (19).

Interestingly, Kate Drohan made a switch after one game this weekend, swapping Kelsey Nader and Robinson in the batting order, which moved Nader to the leadoff spot with Robinson behind her. The change did little to ignite a spark as a hitless Saturday night dropped Robinson’s average to .111.

That said, Robinson may have found her groove. On Sunday, Northwestern’s star finally broke through (from the three-spot in the order) with a 4-of-4 day with two doubles. The four hits boosted Robinson’s average over 100 points and should give her some momentum going into next weekend. Although UT Arlington isn’t the strongest opponent, hopefully the performance can be the springboard Robinson needs to get back to her field-scorching ways.

3. Signe Dohse — not a bad first impression!

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend came when Northwestern went to the bullpen on Friday night to relieve Riley Grudzielanek, and in came not Renae Cunningham, or even Emma Blea, but redshirt freshman Signe Dohse to make her first-ever pitching appearance against a top-10 LSU team. I won’t lie, I expected the worst in a brutal situation like that, but came away incredibly impressed with Dohse.

She threw 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and a walk, but no runs against a fearsome Tiger lineup. She had good zip on her pitches and an impressive command of the strike zone. The next day, she earned enough trust to get the start against UT Arlington, where she threw five innings, only allowing two hits, two walks and one run. She earned her first career win, and perhaps the right to keep pitching for Northwestern going forward.

4. Nieto and Avvisato stay hot

Northwestern’s offense has largely struggled so far this season. In addition to Robinson’s slow start, Bridget Donahey, Emma Raye and Ayana Lindsey have yet to hit their offensive strides, but both of NU’s top hitters from last weekend stayed hot.

Grace Nieto and Kaylie Avvisato both feasted against UT Arlington, with Nieto tallying five hits against the Mavericks and Avvisato adding five. Even though Avvisato swapped shortstop and third base duties with Bridget Donahey this weekend (with Donahey moving back to SS), her role on offense remained consistent: getting on base. After 10 games, she sits with a .455 average. Nieto isn’t too far behind at .391.

5. More lineup changes on the way?

I’ve already mentioned the big changes at the top of the batting order and on the left side of the infield, but Northwestern also made an alteration at the bottom of the order. Last year, Ayana Lindsey hit in the nine-spot and did an excellent job consistently getting on base and using her speed on the base path, setting up RBI situations for the heavy hitters at the top of the order. This year, it looks like Grace Nieto may step into that role with her high OBP and veteran savvy.

Sunday’s 11-3 run-rule win over UT Arlington could also yield some changes going forward. First-year Avery Garden made the start in left field and hit her first career homer. With Isabel Cunnea struggling at the plate, it would not be all that surprising to see Garden get more and more consistent work in the lineup. Similarly, Ainsley Muno hit a pinch-hit homer in the contest. Muno was a lineup mainstay a year ago but hasn’t seen as much time with Nieto’s return to the lineup. If Muno continues to make the most of her opportunities, she could slide into a DP role where Riley Grudzielanek has yet to capitalize on her at-bats. Pay attention to the lineup cards in the first few games next weekend.

Weekly Awards

Week MVP: Not the strongest statistical week, but I’m going to give the back-to-back nod to Kaylie Avvisato (6-for-17, 3 RBI, triple, two stolen bases) who managed hits in both LSU games and showed off her speed on the base paths.

Best Play: Because of the whole no broadcasts thing (still mad!), there are no awesome highlights to show you outside of an Emma Raye sac fly in a game NU would go on to lose. I’m sure the home runs would’ve been awesome to watch. I sure wish we could see them! I can’t in good faith pick a winner this week.

Big Ten Lookaround: Okay, yep. Time to be scared of Nebraska. Jordy Bahl is back, and she is terrifying.

Not to mention Bahl is hitting .538 with five home runs. Nebraska outscored its opponents 69-9 this past weekend and now sits at 8-2. Keep an eye on the Huskers’ matchups against Duke and UCLA next weekend.

What I’m watching for next weekend: The schedule is lighter than the past two weekends, but I’m excited to see how Northwestern matches up against California, a team that was ranked in the preseason Top 25 and looks like a pretty even match for NU on paper.

Ethan’s favorite NU Softball thing he saw this week: I don’t know if any of you have had the pleasure of following the live updates of an unstreamable game, but around 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning, I was having the time of my life as Northwestern enjoyed an unreal fifth inning against UT Arlington. Seven runs, seven hits (five for extra bases) including back-to-back homers and the first career blast for Avery Garden. The burst of runs put the game on ice and I watched it unfold via updates on my computer screen while watching the PGA Tour in the background.

Another column in the books! I’ll be back next Monday to break down Northwestern’s trip to the Mary Nutter Classic where the Wildcats play four games against Seattle, Utah, Saint Mary’s and Cal.