There was good news and bad news from the Northwestern Wildcats recent weekend of softball.

First, the good news: The Cats handily won the Big Ten Tournament, shutting out Ohio State, Minnesota and Iowa.

Big Ten Tournament

In Game One against Ohio State, the ‘Cats had an eight-run fourth inning thanks to two RBI hits from Emily Haug and Nicole Pauly. Lauren Delaney one-hit the Buckeyes en route to an 8-0 victory in only five innings. (NCAA rules stopped the game early because NU was up by such a large margin.)

Game Two was more of the same for NU as they run-ruled Minnesota, 12-0, as well. Freshman Michelle Batts was the hero at the plate going 2-2 with a home run and five RBIs. Delaney two-hit the Gophers and struck out eight in five innings.

The shock of the tournament came on day one when second-seeded Michigan was ousted by seventh-seeded Michigan State. With Michigan out, third-seeded Iowa made it to the championship game.

It was all Delaney again in the championship. The sophomore shut out the Hawkeyes while giving up only two hits and striking out nine. Junior catcher Erin Dyer’s fourth inning solo home run was all the Cats needed in their 1-0 victory to claim the Big Ten Championship.

NCAA Tournament Brackets revealed

Now the bad news—like last year, the NCAA Softball tournament committee cares little about the conference tournaments. Last season, the ‘Cats fell to Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship, yet still received the overall second seed in the NCAA Tournament—the highest seed they had ever gotten.

After walking through the Big Ten Tournament, as well as finishing as the regular-season co-champs with Michigan, the committee gave Northwestern the eleventh overall seed in the tournament—their lowest in the past four years they’ve advanced. But Northwestern’s seed itself isn’t the issue. Northwestern will have to get through DePaul, a softball powerhouse, and their softball in-conference rival Michigan, the fourth overall seed.

When I first saw this, I was blown away. Michigan’s higher seeding is ludicrous. After sharing the Big Ten regular season championship with Northwestern, splitting the doubleheader with the Wildcats and after getting eliminated in the Big Ten Tournament by an inferior opponent, the Wolverines were rewarded with the fourth overall seed in the NCAA tournament. Granted, they finished the regular season ranked fourth in the RPI and sixth overall, but to have a seed seven spots higher than Northwestern is ridiculous.

The biggest obstacle in the way of the Wildcats’ route to the Super Regionals, which is the set of games after the Regional rounds, is the DePaul Blue Demons—a recent powerhouse that has one of the best pitchers in the country. The Wildcats played the Blue Demons just a couple weeks ago at the DePaul Invitational. Following a heartbreaking loss to No. 1 Alabama, the ‘Cats lost to DePaul 5-3 in five innings (game shortened due to darkness). It should be noted, though, that Smith started that game as well, so DePaul has yet to face Delaney, the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year.

Regional Preview

Onto Northwestern’s regional matchups: The ‘Cats get to host the regional for the third straight season at the newly-renovated Sharon J. Drysdale Field. On Friday at 2:30, NU will play Western Illinois. The game before that pits local rival DePaul against Drake. The four-team regional is double elimination.

Northwestern played Western Illinois back on March 2nd and won 8-0 in five innings thanks to home runs by Tammy Williams and Pauly. Jessica Smith pitched in that game and shut out Western Illinois. Just like DePaul, they, too, never had a chance to face Delaney.

Chances are, the ‘Cats will face DePaul twice—once on Saturday after both teams win, and then again in the Regional Championship on Sunday. Because it is double elimination, whichever team loses the first matchup will get a chance to get back to the winner’s bracket.

The Demons finished the regular season ranked 23rd and have been a force in the Big East and nationally for the past couple seasons. DePaul is led by Big East Pitcher of the Year, Becca Heteniak. Heteniak has a couple no-hitters on the season and she only pitched one inning against Northwestern, striking out 3 batters. In the game of softball, as ‘Cats fans have seen this year with Delaney and last year with Eileen Canney, all a team needs is one dominating pitcher that can carry her team on her shoulders through the postseason. While DePaul is ranked below NU, Heteniak could make DePaul one of the top teams in the country.

Assuming the higher seeds move on, NU will face the sixth overall seeded Arizona State Sun Devils in the Super Regional round of 16. Here is the overall bracket.

The ‘Cats, despite being young (only one senior is in the starting lineup, Darcy Sengewald), have shown the ability to play and beat the best teams in the country (see: win over #1 Arizona in February). A third straight trip to Oklahoma City for the final rounds is definitely not out of the question.