Northwestern softball entered 2026 without a clear replacement for Lauren Boyd in the pitcher’s circle. 15 games into the season, it looks like the ‘Cats may have two.
Boyd paced the 2025 ‘Cats in every meaningful statistical category, and her departure left a void at the top of the Northwestern pitching staff. Wildcat coach Kate Drohan opted against dipping into the portal to replace Boyd’s production, placing her faith in the four returning pitchers and true-first year Marina Mason. Coming into the season,
you could make a serious argument for each of the five Wildcat pitchers as the best candidate take up Boyd’s mantle.
Mason and redshirt sophomore Signe Dohse have each posted blistering starts to the 2026 campaign, and their early success has all but answered Northwestern’s most glaring question heading into the season.
Mason leads Northwestern in innings pitched (28.2) and games started (six). She has flashed workhorse potential, throwing at least four innings in four of those six starts, including a complete-game victory over Missouri where she struck out nine. Her seven innings against Missouri marked Northwestern’s first complete-game shutout since — you guessed it — Lauren Boyd against Kentucky in the 2025 NCAA tournament. Mason’s 2.44 ERA in eight appearances is 20th in the conference and eighth among Big Ten true first-years.
Defense has been a minor issue for Mason early in her collegiate career. She bears partial responsibility for a pop-up that dropped in the pitcher’s circle in the sixth inning of Northwestern’s 6-5 defeat to then-No. 8 Texas A&M at the Clearwater Invitational. Mason was credited with the loss in that one after allowing two earned in 1.2 IP.
However, the true first-year has had her fair share of good moments against the country’s best. Mason allowed just two earned runs and fanned six in 5.1 innings of work against No. 8 Arkansas this past weekend. She also threw a complete-game shutout against Missouri on Valentine’s Day, allowing just two hits and striking out nine.
Missouri doesn’t quite qualify as elite competition — the Tigers finished 14th out of 15 in the 2026 SEC Softball Preseason Coaches’ Poll. But again, those numbers against an SEC opponent are still worth getting excited about.
As Inside NU’s Brielle Lowry outlined in her third edition of The Scorecard, Mason makes her living with strikeouts. Her strikeout percentage of 26.92 is almost double that of any other Northwestern pitcher, and she currently sits at eighth in the Big Ten with 8.5 K/7 (quick side note that I found surprising when finding these numbers: including Mason, four of the conference’s top eight in K/7 are true first-years).
Dohse leads the Big Ten in ERA, sitting at a balmy 0.64 through 10 appearances. While Dohse has come out of the bullpen in five of her seven appearances, those are ace numbers. She also has two complete games in two starts.
Dohse allowed her first earned runs of the season last weekend in Arkansas, surrendering two over six innings of work against the No. 8 Razorbacks. She has excelled against elite competition, allowing zero earned in 3.2 IP against No. 1 Texas Tech and No. 17 Georgia. Dohse strikes out almost five fewer batters than Mason per seven innings, but she has displayed far-and-away the best control on the Wildcat staff. Her BB/7 of 1.14 is 12th in the Big Ten.
However, the emergence of Mason and Dohse has not translated into run prevention — or wins — due to a brutal defensive start. Head coach Kate Drohan opted to shake up her infield heading into this season, most likely in order to accommodate true first-year Tru Medina. She moved sophomore Kaylie Avvisato from shortstop to center field and slid senior Bridget Donahey from third base to short to free up the hot corner for her highly-touted infield recruit.
Medina, who played shortstop in high school, told Inside NU that she did not have game experience at third base before coming to Northwestern. She leads Northwestern with eight errors through 15 games.
As a team, Northwestern is tied for sixth in the Big Ten in earned runs but ranks 11th it total runs allowed (before games of Feb. 26).
While Mason and Dohse stand a head above the rest of the Wildcat pitching staff early, Northwestern’s remaining three arms have each showed flashes. Riley Grudzielanek, Northwestern’s returning innings leader, sports an unflattering 4.91 ERA, but that number is exacerbated by a poor 1.1 IP outing against Arkansas last weekend. She posted an excellent 4.0 IP against Georgia in Clearwater where she allowed just two earned.
Emma Blea has faced a top-10 ranked opponent in four of her six appearances, and she has hung around in each outing. Renae Cunningham has the worst ERA of the bunch, but she also threw a scoreless inning against Texas Tech.
Despite Northwestern’s 6-9 start, Mason, Dohse and the rest of the Wildcat staff offer some real reasons for optimism with one weekend remaining until conference play.
