Softball: Five things to know from an SEC clash against Mississippi State

Far from perfect, but the ‘Cats stole a game in the home opener.

There may have been snow on the ground early in the week, but I sure did miss having softball in Evanston.

Although in one weekend the ‘Cats matched their home losses total from the last three seasons combined, Northwestern was still able to eke out a win against an uber-competitive No. 19 Mississippi State team. Although the weekend was a reminder that Northwestern still has a long way to go before it can compete with the SEC squads that run the sport (see 14-0 and 12-2 losses in run-rule early decisions), Northwestern’s 4-2 win in the first end of the Saturday doubleheader is proof of this team’s high ceiling.

Here are five things to know from Northwestern’s most recent weekend.

1. A tough weekend for Kansas

Unfortunately, the past few days have been unkind to Kansas, and I’m not just talking about the Jayhawks’ loss in the NCAA Tournament to John Calipari and Arkansas. Kansas Robinson, Northwestern’s best player from a season ago, is in a prolonged slump.

After a hitless weekend (although she did draw a walk), Northwestern’s cleanup hitter is batting right at the Mendoza Line — an even .200. We’re now past the halfway point this season so Robinson’s struggles can no longer be waved off, or explained away by a small sample size. After batting .383 with an OPS of nearly 1.200 a season ago, 2025 looked like it could be a year where Robinson established herself as a Player of the Year candidate. Instead, it has gone the other way. If the troubling trend doesn’t reverse soon, Northwestern’s ceiling is capped in a major way.

2. A clarifying series in the circle

We already had a pretty good idea that Lauren Boyd was Northwestern’s best pitcher. This weekend illuminated the fact that she may be the Wildcats’ only truly reliable arm against top-end talent.

Boyd was a workhorse in Northwestern’s sole win, throwing 127 pitches in a complete game gem where she allowed just four hits, two walks and two runs to one of the SEC’s best offenses. She forced 11 groundouts and frustrated a Bulldog team that had been mashing.

Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, that mashing continued any time a pitcher who wasn’t No. 15 entered the circle. Riley Grudzielanek, in particular, had a brutal weekend. In two appearances, she threw 6.1 innings and allowed 17 hits, 16 runs (14 earned) and five walks, inflating her ERA to 4.87. Signe Dohse, Renae Cunningham and Emma Blea also all saw limited relief action, and only Blea exited relatively unscathed.

While I’m not too concerned in the short term (few teams Northwestern will see the rest of the way have a lineup that has anywhere near the juice of Mississippi State), it does raise questions about Northwestern’s postseason prospects.

3. Defensive miscues

In all honesty, I wasn’t surprised to see Northwestern look a little overmatched against one of the SEC’s best. What did surprise me; however, was how much the Wildcats shot themselves in the foot. Across the three games, Northwestern’s defense had seven errors, including five in the opening game of the series. Of those five, four were credited to first-year shortstop Kaylie Avvisato, who now leads the team with 10 errors.

At the end of the day, errors happen. But with some of the pitching inconsistency mentioned above, it means the team has less of a margin for error. A year ago, Northwestern averaged 0.88 errors per game. This year, that number sits at 1.2 as NU’s fielding percentage has dropped from fifth in the Big Ten to ninth.

4. An update on Northwestern’s remaining schedule

That was all too pessimistic of me. Mississippi State is a heck of a team and they’ll expose your warts, but coming out of this weekend, one stat matters most to me: 4-0.

Northwestern is still undefeated in conference play. Those two losses by a combined 30 points don’t change that. Adding another ranked win is just icing on the cake. And on top of that, Northwestern’s remaining Big Ten schedule suggests this team still has a chance to sit near the top of the conference.

Yes, Northwestern still has a pair of series against Nebraska and UCLA — those remain tough as both teams have looked the part thus far in 2025. But Northwestern’s other 12 games look incredibly winnable. With remaining series against Minnesota (13-18, 2-5 B1G), Illinois (13-15, 1-5 B1G), Rutgers (16-19, 1-4 B1G) and Wisconsin (19-12, 3-4 B1G), Northwestern should have a chance to stack some wins against teams with a combined .280 win percentage in conference play.

5. Sierra Sacco… my goodness

I wouldn’t usually devote an entire section to an opposing player, but with three games (and two of them being routs), I feel like it’s okay to talk about one of the best players I’ve seen play in Evanston.

I’d say Sierra Sacco had a relatively average weekend by her standards (despite having two separate three-hit games), but I left the weekend fully convinced that she is one of the best players in the country.

She currently sits second in the SEC (and top 10 in the nation) with a .510 batting average and also sits second in OPS (1.476) while leading the best conference in the country in hits. Not to mention, she also has 12 doubles, six home runs, 27 walks and 13 stolen bases. For Northwestern, her continued dominance can only help and Wildcat fans should be rooting for the Bulldogs to continue their ascent up the national rankings to make this series age better and better for NU.

Weekly Awards

Week MVP: Although Izzy Cunnea put together a great weekend, it has to be Lauren Boyd (7.0 innings, four hits two earned runs, two walks, five strikeouts, 127 pitches), who is the main reason Northwestern has another ranked win on its resume.

Best Play: This one will go to Izzy Cunnea, whose bases-clearing triple was this close to being a grand slam, but gave Northwestern enough runs to win with a single swing.

Big Ten Lookaround: There are currently two undefeated teams in Big Ten play: Northwestern and Michigan. The Wolverines have won five in a row after sweeping their four games in Oklahoma City over Maryland and Wisconsin and Lauren Derkowski looks like a Big Ten Pitcher of the Year candidate once again.

What I’m watching for next week: With a midgame week against Northern Illinois and a weekend series in Minneapolis, I want to see if Northwestern’s struggling players on both ends can get right. Minnesota is bottom three in the Big Ten in both batting average on offense and batting average against on defense while Northern Illinois is just 2-9 in the month of March.

Ethan’s favorite NU softball thing he saw this week: With the home opener, we got the walkup songs for this year’s roster. So much to unpack here but I’m largely impressed by the taste of Northwestern’s newbies, most notably Emma Blea and Avery Garden, who went vastly different directions in genre and overall vibe, but both were great choices nonetheless.

That’s all for this week. Next up, Northwestern takes on Northern Illinois on Wednesday (catch yours truly on the broadcast for Big Ten Plus!) before traveling to take on Minnesota in a three-game series over the weekend. As per usual, I’ll be back next week to break it all down.