Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Mcneese St
Softball Team Swept by McNeese State
2/20/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 20, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern softball team concluded play at the GRU Softball Classic in Gainesville, Fla., by dropping a pair of games to McNeese State by identical 7-5 scores. Northwestern went 2-4 in the six-game tournament and fell to 5-7 on the year.
In the first game, the Wildcats trailed 2-1 after four innings before putting up four runs in the fifth to take the lead. Sophomore Gretchen Barnes (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) led off with a double and advanced to third on a base hit by Brett Nakabayashi (Irvine, Calif./Irvine). A squeeze bunt scored Barnes and Nakabayashi came around on an RBI single by Tami Jones (West Hills, Calif./El Camino Real). Alyson Schulz (San Diego, Calif./Serra) capped the inning with a two-run double, scoring Jones and Erin Jancic (Houston, Texas/Alief Elsik).
However, McNeese responded by scoring four runs in its half of the fifth despite managing only one hit. The Cowboys took advantage of five walks and two wild pitches in the inning to reclaim the lead, then added an insurance run in the sixth to hold on for the win.
Northwestern charged out to a 5-0 lead in the second game, but could not hold it. The 'Cats plated a run in the opening frame when Jones started the two-out rally with a single, stole second and came around on a single by Jancic.
In the second, NU took advantage of two Cowboy errors to score four more runs. Northwestern had the bases loaded with one out when McNeese second baseman April Workman uncorked a wild throw on a grounder by Nakabayashi that cleared the bases. Nakabayashi scored two batters later when Jones tripled into the right-centerfield gap.
After retiring the first nine batters she faced, freshman Brie Brown (Nashville, Tenn./ Harputh Hall) began to show signs of fatigue in the fourth as McNeese plated three runs on four hits. Her problems continued into the fifth, as two walks, two NU errors and a timely single turned into four runs, giving McNeese a 7-5 lead. Northwestern managed only two hits the rest of the way.
