Northwestern Softball Pitcher Wins Weekly Award After Dominant Series

The Wildcats' ace is earning some national recognition.

Lauren Boyd winds up to throw a pitch. | Photo: Northwestern Athletics

Northwestern grad student Lauren Boyd has been incredible on the mound this year, and this weekend against UCLA was no different. After going 2-0 in the series, allowing three earned runs and striking out seven, Boyd was announced as the D1Softball Pitcher of the Week today.

National Pitcher of the Week 🌟

Lauren Boyd earns @D1Softball honors following a dominant weekend at UCLA!#GoCats | #BeRemarkable pic.twitter.com/FZvihpZ6Nk

— Northwestern Softball (@NUSBcats) May 6, 2025

D1Softball nominates a Player, Pitcher and a Freshman of the Week. Along with Boyd, UCF's Isabella Vega was this week's freshman, and Arizona's Sydney Stewart won the overall player award.

Boyd was certainly great for the 'Cats this weekend, leading them to two wins in their last series of the regular season. But Northwestern fans are used to this. Boyd finished the season with 14 wins and a 2.54 ERA, both career highs. She also set her career mark in strikeouts with 100 on the nose.

At Northwestern, Boyd has essentially been effective for her entire career. She's 30-14 as a Wildcat, pitching to a 2.49 ERA. That's a dominant college career on the mound.

Now, though, the fun starts. Boyd is arguably the most critical piece on this team in finding postseason success. She'll be in the circle for the 'Cats' biggest postseason games, and she has the stuff to deliver.

After the best season of her college career, and a very good individual series, Boyd getting national recognition for her efforts is nice. But her goal is to keep winning ballgames. If she can keep throwing how she's thrown all year, then Northwestern is going to be set up for success out of the gates in Big Ten Tournament games and beyond.