Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Minnesota
Softball Blanks Minnesota, 5-0
4/2/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 2, 2000
EVANSTON, ILL. - The Northwestern softball team concluded the opening weekend of Big Ten play with a 5-0 win over Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Wildcats improved to 12-15 overall, 3-1 Big Ten while the Golden Gophers slipped to 22-16, 0-4.
Freshman Lauren Schwendimann (Tustin, Calif.) continued to impress, shutting down the potent Gophers offense on only four hits while notching eight strikeouts. After mustering only one hit through the first four innings, the Northwestern bats came to life in the fifth. Gretchen Barnes (Flossmoor, Ill.) and Mikie Chambers (Country Club Hills, Ill.) opened the inning with singles. An infield hit by Brett Nakabayashi (Irvine, Calif.) with one out loaded the bases. After a popout, Erin Jancic (Houston, Texas) lined a base hit up the middle to score Barnes and Chambers. Brooke Siebel (Brentwood, Tenn.) followed with a two-run single of her own, plating Nakabayashi and Jancic and giving Northwestern a 4-0 lead. Schwendimann cruised from there, striking out Morgan Holden to end the game to improve to 6-7 on the year.
Northwestern steps out of the Big Ten this week, traveling to DeKalb for a doubleheader against Northern Illinois on Tuesday afternoon.
