It’s been start-and-stop for Northwestern’s momentum to open the season. The ‘Cats’ (8-11, 0-0 Big Ten) stock seems to crash prematurely every time it starts to rise this season. Dominant victories have been followed by deflating losses throughout the first month of the season, and Northwestern’s road trip to Durham, N.C. followed that same theme to a tee.
NU went .500 at the Duke Invitational this weekend, splitting games against Boston (8-10, 0-0 Patriot League), Ohio State (6-11, 0-0 Big Ten) and
No. 20 Duke (12-9, 0-0 ACC). Grace Nieto led the offense from the leadoff spot with six hits and a .529 on-base percentage. Kelsey Nader and Kansas Robinson followed with five apiece, helping Nader push her batting average to a team-high .397, while Robinson propelled herself out of an early-season slump, slugging .923 over the trip.
Emma Blea provided a stellar performance over the weekend against BU, pitching a career-high 5.1 innings and allowing one hit against the 19 batters she faced. Marina Mason’s success continued on the east coast, helping her case to claim the No. 1 spot in the rotation. Riley Grudzielanek also pitched well over the weekend, keeping her in the mix for a premier starting job in the spring.
Friday Doubleheader
Game 1: Boston University 6, Northwestern 4
A six run seventh inning powered the Terriers over the Wildcats in their Friday afternoon meeting for their first win over Northwestern in program history.
Signe Dohse’s first two innings of work this past weekend in Durham were polar opposites. The first went smoothly, with the redshirt sophomore bouncing after a leadoff HBP to retire the next three batters in succession.
The second was a nightmare.
Dohse once again gave the first batter of the inning a free pass, and lady luck wasn’t as forgiving to her and the ‘Cats. BU’s Camry Lyons singled before Livia Christopher roped a two-base hit down the left field line to bring both runs across the plate. Another walk and single later in the inning brought in two more runs for Boston, and Brooke Deppiesse capped the rally with a two-run homer, subsequently forcing Kate Drohan out the dugout for a pitching change.
Dohse, who entered the weekend with a team-low 0.64 ERA, was pulled after recording only four outs.
Blea and Mason combined to carry Northwestern the rest of the way, combining for 5.2 innings of one run ball, but it was too little, too late. Hits from Izzy Cunnea and Kaylie Avvisato, as well as a sac fly from Nader, accounted for NU’s four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Emma Raye who stood in the box as the tying run with two outs, couldn’t keep the effort alive. Haley Ganino stepped up in relief and locked down the Terrier win with a four out save.
Game 2: Northwestern 11, Ohio State 1
Northwestern’s bounce-back performance on Saturday afternoon was fueled by three-hit showings from Robinson and Nieto. The ‘Cats racked up a total of 15 against Buckeye arms Jenna Molk and Lorin Boutte.
Mason’s only blemish on the day was a solo home run given up in the bottom of the first. She’d only allow two more hits on the day, striking out eight in a 96 pitch outing.
The Wildcats started their scoring with four runs in the third, via a Robinson RBI single and a three-run homer from Tru Medina.
The pair of Northwestern sluggers tied for a team-high four runs batted in. Robinson found the latter two RBIs of her day in the seventh inning on a bomb to dead center field.
The top half on the final frame saw NU put up five more runs, with Nieto, Avery Garden, Bridget Donahey and pinch hitter Kate Dowden all pulling their weight in the rally and driving baserunners in.
The tunes of Northwestern metal banging against leather in the seventh was a soothing harmony that appeased the worries of ‘Cats faithful, who saw their beloved squad dip four games below .500 earlier in the day. Their only hope was that the offensive explosion would be the spark to a much-needed upwards trend for Northwestern.
Saturday Doubleheader
Game 1: Northwestern 6, Boston University 3
It seemed as though Northwestern fans would get their wish, as the ‘Cats turned the tables on the Terriers in their second of two meetings at Smith Family Stadium.
However, this win for NU was much different than its win the day before. It wasn’t a knockout blow that sealed the deal for it. Rather, it was a series of well-placed, methodical punches that eventually forced its opposition to crumble. The ‘Cats scored in each of the first five innings of the contest, and slowly built a lead that couldn’t be torn down once it reached its pinnacle.
After Nieto found herself on base to start the game, Raye kickstarted things with a two-out double for NU’s first score. Donahey followed suit with an RBI double of her own in the second, and Robinson drilled her second homer of the tournament, also a two-run shot, in the third.
Kylie Doherty would match Robinson to give Grudzielanek some trouble in the circle, but her efforts to rattle the junior went unrewarded, as she limited damage for the rest of the game.
The highlight of the contest was some Drohan trickery on the base paths, taking advantage of a sizable lead to run a risky first-and-third play to score Kate Renschen in the fifth. Medina, who led off first base, faked a steal to second to draw a throw to second, opening the door for her first-year counterpart to swipe home plate.
Despite the momentum swing, the Terriers did find themselves with two runners in scoring position and the tying run at the plate, but Grudzielanek came up clutch for NU, getting Lyons to roll over and ground out to Nieto, ending the last-second push from BU.
Game 2: No. 20 Duke 6, Northwestern 1
After their Thursday matchup turned out to be a wash (literally), the ‘Cats and Blue Devils finally met on Saturday afternoon. Northwestern sought its first ranked win of 2026 against Duke before flying back to Chicago, but that was not to be for the Drohans and friends.
NU’s only run of the contest was on a single from Raye in the bottom of the first, giving the Wildcat catcher RBIs in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 6 against Toledo and Texas State.
After tossing a 1-2-3 first inning, Mason gave up homers to Layla Lamar and D’auna Jennings in each of the next three. Lamar went deep in back-to-back at-bats in the second and fourth innings, while Jennings connected in the third to become Duke’s all-time hits leader.
Jennings also found success in the fifth against Dohse, roping a double to bring home another Blue Devil run before scoring on an Aminah Vega long ball the very next pitch.
Cassidy Curd pieced together a start that paralleled Mason’s complete game against Ohio State the day before: seven innings, three hits allowed, and seven strikeouts, retiring six of the final seven batters she faced in the circle.
Big Ten play awaits the ‘Cats next weekend in Seattle. Washington will be Northwestern’s first conference foe of the season in a three game set. Game one is set to commence on Friday at 8 p.m. CT.
