Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan St
Softball Splits With Michigan State
4/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Softball
It was a frustrating first six innings for the Wildcats in the opener, as the offense had trouble generating runs. Trailing 3-0, Brooke Siebel (Brentwood, Tenn.) got NU on the board in the fourth, hitting a laser through the gusty winds for her third home run of the season. Michigan State regained its three-run advantage in the fifth, scoring on a wild pitch for a 4-1 lead. Northwestern left the bases loaded in the fifth and runners at second and third in the sixth before breaking through in the seventh.
A one-out single from Brett Nakabayashi (Irvine, Calif.) started the rally. Mikie Chambers (Country Club Hills, Ill.) battled for a walk and Erin Jancic (Houston, Texas) singled to load the bases. After Siebel laced a single up the middle to score two, Jenn Shull (San Jose, Calif.) walked to reload the bases for Tami Jones (West Hills, Calif.). Jones hit a soft ground ball between third and short, beating it out for an infield single to tie the game. Schulz followed with a four-pitch walk and the comeback was complete.
Michigan State used two NU errors to take a 1-0 lead after the first inning of Game 2, before Northwestern tied it in the third. An error by Spartan third baseman Robyn Golden allowed Rane Gunderson (Minnetonka, Minn.) to come across. The Cats loaded the bases in the inning, but could not tally again.
Freshman pitcher Brie Brown (Nashville, Tenn.) settled down and held MSU scoreless until leaving after walking the leadoff batter in the eighth. The walk would prove to be costly, as it came across on the passed ball that gave Michigan State a 2-1 victory.
Northwestern returns to action tomorrow, facing Big Ten leader Michigan in a single game at 1 p.m. in Evanston.
