The Evanston (Ill.) Regional of the NCAA softball tournament will feature plenty of talent, with each of the four teams featuring a major conference award winner.

McNeese State, Northwestern and Oakland each feature a conference pitcher of the year. Cowgirls star Ashley Vallejo (17-7, 2.20 ERA) won the honor in the Southland Conference. In Southland games, Vallejo was 9-0 with a save and a 0.26 ERA in 12 appearances. Vallejo completed all seven conference starts in the regular season and won five games via shutout.

Oakland’s Sydney Campbell won the honor in the Horizon League. The sophomore went 20-7 in the regular season, including 16-2 in conference games. Campbell won and pitched a complete game in all three conference tournament games, allowing four runs over 21 innings.

Northwestern’s Danielle Williams led the Big Ten in wins (25), ERA (1.49) and strikeouts (270) en route to being unanimously voted conference pitcher of the year.

Notre Dame first baseman Katrina Gaskins was named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year after hitting .433 with 12 home runs and 57 RBIs. In conference games, Gaskins hit .483 with seven home runs.

Players to Watch

Others to watch, by team:

McNeese

OF Kendall Talley (.354, 29 RBI, 48 runs, 20 SB), 3B Jil Poullard (.364, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 19 SB), 1B Crislyne Moreno (.366, 3 HR, 38 RBI; conference tournament MVP with 5 RBI).

Northwestern 

IF/OF Rachel Lewis (.366, 20 HR, 52 RBI, 52 runs, Big Ten Player of the Year), C Jordyn Rudd (.338, 7 HR, 41 RBI), 1B Nikki Cuchran (.367, 7 HR, 48 RBI).

Notre Dame

OF Abby Sweet (.377, 6 HR, 25 RBI), OF Leea Hanks .(366, 5 HR, 30 RBI), P/DH Payton Tidd (15-4, 2.51 ERA, 2 Sv; .284, 4 R, 14 RBI).

Oakland

OF Lauren Griffith (.313, 4 HR, 25 RBI), 3B Madison Jones (.352, 9 HR, 24 RBI), 2B Jessie Munson (.307, 20 runs, 8 SB).

Schedule

Friday, May 20

Game 1 — No. 2 Notre Dame (39-10) vs. No. 3 McNese St. (38-19), 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 2 — No. 1 Northwestern (40-10) vs. No. 4 Oakland (26-16), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Saturday, May 21

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 10 a.m.

Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 12:30 p.m.

Game 5 — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 winner , 3 p.m.

Sunday, May 22

Game 6 — Game 3 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 3 p.m.

Game 7 — Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 5:30 p.m. (if necessary)

Fast Facts

a McNeese is making its eighth NCAA Tournament appearance.

a McNeese is 5-14 in the NCAA Tournament.

a The Cowgirls are making their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance under sixth-year head coach James Landreneau.

a Have played at three sites (Lafayette, La.-1994), College Station, Texas (2005, 2018) and Baton Rouge (2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021).