BASEBALL
Let’s get started with the baseball team. Their final homestand was this weekend, where they hosted the 27-16 Purdue Boilermakers. Friday started out well with runs batted in by Anthony Calarco and O’Donnell in the first, but a fourth inning rally by Purdue put the Boilermakers back on top. ‘Cats fell 14-8, but in game two they brought it back with an 11-1 blowout highlighted by a three-run home run from Tommy D’Alise–his eighth of the year. Sunday senior day brought another loss for Northwestern, they lost 2-7. On Tuesday, they hosted 14th-ranked Notre Dame where they lost again, 4-14. They’re now 22-26 overall and 8-13 in-conference, good for 9th place right now. They have one series left against Minnesota, who lies at the bottom of the Big Ten standings; they need a series sweep in order to have any hope of making the Big Ten tournament in Omaha next Wednesday. Action starts in Minneapolis at 6:30 Central tomorrow night.
SOFTBALL
On the other side of the battery, as it were, the first-ranked softball team fell in the Big Ten tournament semifinals to Michigan 2-1. It was a low-scoring game, with the only score until the seventh inning being Ayana Lindsey’s scoring from third on a wild pitch. In the seventh and final inning, however, Michigan’s third baseman Taylor Bump hit a two-run homer to left, lifting the Wolverines to the championship game where they would lose to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 3-1 in eight innings.
Despite the loss in East Lansing, the Wildcats are ranked 9th nationally, high enough to host the NCAA tournament regionals at the J in Evanston. They’ll face Oakland, Notre Dame, and McNeese State University in a double-elimination regional starting on Friday and running until Sunday. Northwestern will play their first game against Oakland on Friday at 3:30 Central on ESPN+.
LACROSSE
Speaking of national championships, the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team have been going so good so far in the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament. The number 6 ‘Cats are host to the first two rounds; they made quick work of Central Michigan on Friday, punching in eight quick goals in the first quarter. Erin Coykendall and Jill Girardi both had hat tricks in the 22-7 win.
Second round on Sunday: ‘Cats played their Big Ten comrades, the Michigan Wolverines. Northwestern scored five unanswered goals in the first quarter with Girardi and Lauren Gilbert scoring two each in just that period. Lauren Gilbert had the most goals on the day with four; Coykendall racked up three assists to go alongside her two goals. ‘Cats won 15-12. Their quarterfinal game will be in Evanston against the #4 Syracuse Orange. Game time is 4 pm Central tomorrow; you can watch on ESPNU.
BASKETBALL
And finally, in a little offseason action, former Ohio State Buckeye and Chattanooga Assistant Coach Brittany Johnson has been named new Assistant Coach for the Northwestern women’s basketball team. Johnson was the first ever high school player in Illinois to score 4,000 career points and was a strong shooter for the Buckeyes, scoring the third-most three-pointers ever in the Big Ten at 216.
That wraps up your NU Sports report for this week. For more information about upcoming games, as well as how you can watch the Wildcats live, which you may well want to do in-person with all the national championship games in town, visit www.nusports.com.
