DAVE MORRISON
Last year after Dan Brauer and George Kontos were drafted and Julio Siberio graduated, the most pressing question facing Northwestern baseball was, "Can the pitching staff recover?"
This year, after the graduation of Dan Schwartz, Andrew Smith and Ryan Myers, it's more like, "Do the Wildcats have enough arms to last nine innings?"
Two of the Cats' starting pitchers - Cole Livermore and Joe Muraski - are back from last year. So is last season's ERA leader, Jonathan Purcell.
But, like last season, the bullpen is emaciated: not a good symptom for a team looking to climb out of the bottom of the Big Ten.
NU's salvation can come from the offense. Senior Jake Owens hit .385 last year, and classmate Mike Kalina combined to hit .414 in a three-game set against Cal State Northridge last week. The Cats took two of those games.
Nobody expects much from NU, but who knows? Nobody expected much in 2006, and the Cats finished second in the conference.
ANDREW SIMON
The last two seasons have been great for Northwestern softball.
But with Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Eileen Canney and Big Ten Player of the Year Garland Cooper gone, the question is whether the team has what it takes to repeat that success.
The Wildcats are off to a 6-2 start, including 4-1 against ranked opponents. They beat top-ranked Arizona 8-5 at the season-opening Kajikawa Classic.
Although the offense may struggle at times to deal with the absence of Cooper, the best hitter in school history, pitching may be the bigger concern. Sophomore Lauren Delaney has at least as much talent as Canney but still must show that she has the mental toughness of a true ace.
She has pitched well so far but has also struggled a couple of times, such as in a win over Texas A&M and a loss to UCLA.
Still, Delaney will have plenty of help from a solid offense and a coaching staff that now includes former NU star pitcher Courtnay Foster. That will be enough to get the Cats back to the promised land.
2008 Woodie Awards
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