Softball: Cats finish 3-2 at Palm Springs Classic

No. 2 Northwestern put its 7-1 record on the line in its final contest at the Palm Springs Classic in sunny Cathedral City, Calif., against No. 11 UCLA. The Bruins (13-1) behind ace Anjelica Selden fell behind early 2-0, but scrapped their way back to a 6-2 victory over the Wildcats.

UCLA went 5-0 in the tournament while NU finished 3-2, suffering its first two losses of the season; the first came against unranked San Diego State on Friday evening.

In the fourth inning, NU scored its runs on RBI singles by Nicole Pauly and Erin Dyer. Suffering from the 2-0 deficit, UCLA responded in the bottom half of the fourth with five runs on two home runs.

The Bruins scored again in the bottom of the fifth to take a 6-2 that the Cats could not come back from. On Saturday the Cats fought from behind against No. 6 LSU and No. 25 Texas, but were unable to do so against the All-American Selden (7-1). 

While Lauren Delaney threw a no-hitter with 17 strikeouts on Friday to top the Oregon Ducks, Delaney struggled against other Pac-10 foe UCLA. Delaney allowed six runs, three of which were earned, on five hits, but only registered five strikeouts. Delaney (6-2) may have been tired by the end of the tournament, pitching in all five of the team’s games this weekend in just three days.

Following an opening weekend performance where she was named Big Ten Player of the Week and Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week, junior Tammy Williams went 8-12 at the plate. She is batting .655 on the season, and slugging .862.

Nicole Pauly is tied for the team lead with 10 runs scored and is leading the team with 12 RBI, while batting .323. Pauly has also stolen two bases thus far.

The Cats will face Kansas, Bradley, Western Illinois and Southern Illinois in the Coach B Classic in Carbondale, Ill., home of the Salukis next weekend. NU will play two games on both Saturday and Sunday. Following the four games in Illinois, the Cats will not return to The Prairie State again until late in March when conference play begins on the 28^th against Wisconsin. NU will spend the two weekends following the trip to Southern Illinois in Long Beach, Calif., for the Long Beach Invitational and in Honolulu, Hawaii at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.