Under normal circumstances, Jordyn Rudd would be in a position to count down the final days of her college softball career.
Instead, Northwestern’s senior catcher is adding to them.
Rudd, a starter basically from the time she first set foot on campus, has chosen to utilize the NCAA-issued additional season of eligibility made possible by the COVID-19 pandemic two springtimes ago.
When you’ve won 72% of the time the last four years, why leave?
“I do plan on coming back next year,” said Rudd, a 2018 Center Grove graduate who has started in every one of the 175 games the Wildcats have played since she arrived. “For me, knowing I have an extra year to play softball, it’s an opportunity I can’t deny.
“The biggest thing for me and my family is that I didn’t want to have any regrets.”
Northwestern, 38-8 and ranked seventh going into Sunday’s game at Minnesota, begins Big Ten tournament play Thursday at Michigan State. Batting third in the Wildcats’ lineup, Rudd entered Sunday hitting .350 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs this season.
Her career numbers include 35 doubles and 20 round-trippers.
Rudd, who majors in political science and minors in business, earned academic all-conference status last season and has twice been named All-Big Ten.
She’s thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of her time in Evanston, be it academically, athletically or socially.
“I think these four years have definitely been the best four years of my life,” Rudd said. “I think I’ve grown as a person in how I see myself and how I see other people.”
Part of that evolvement includes becoming engaged this past Oct. 1 to former Franklin baseball player Zach Lee. The couple plans to be married in August 2023, enabling Rudd to keep her surname for her final trip around the bases as a college softball player.
Despite all the games she’s caught and softball road trips she’s made, Rudd did experience a first in early March when Northwestern traveled downstate to play at Southern Illinois.
Stepping to the plate three times that day as the Salukis’ designated hitter was freshman Alexis Rudd, Jordyn’s sister.
If ever there was a time Jordyn was placed in the unusual circumstance of wanting an opposing player to get a hit, this would be it.
“We talked a little bit (when Alexis stepped into the batter’s box), but I mainly wanted her to focus,” Jordyn said, laughing. “Alexis actually got a hit in her first at-bat, and it was her first college hit. That was the coolest thing in the world. We had so much family there.”
Northwestern coach Kate Drohan surely appreciated the family vibe, for her wildly successful two-decade run has included her twin sister, Caryn, being in the dugout as associate head coach.
Knowing she’ll have Rudd on the roster for another year is a victory in and of itself.
“Jordyn had made an impact on Northwestern softball from quite literally her first game with the program when she drove in eight runs over the first two games she ever played,” Kate Drohan said. “There are very few players in the country that have been able to accomplish what Jordyn has, both offensively and defensively, over these last four years.
“She has been an absolute warrior for us behind the plate. She’s never missed a start, has caught over 1,000 innings and has posted hitting numbers that stack up with some of our program’s all-time greats.”
