Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
4-8
University of Oregon
6-2
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Moore, J (5-2)
L: Letourneau, Amy (3-5)
Batting:
2B: Howard, K 1
HR: Cuico, K 1
RBI: Takeda, J 1 ; Chambers, K 1 ; Cuico, K 3 ; Howard, K 1 ; Melick, H 2 ; Nieto, C 2
SH: Ceo, C 1
SF: Chambers, K 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ceo, C 1 ; Chambers, K 2 ; Cuico, K 1 ; Howard, K 1 ; Peterson, A 1 ; Pappas, S 1 ; Burger, A 1 ; Goodrum, S 1 ; Nieto, C 1
SB: Chambers, K 1 ; Pappas, S 1 ; Burger, A 1
HBP: Cuico, K 1
PO: Goodrum, S 1
Batting:
2B: Lamberth, Meghan 1
HR: Duehr, Olivia 1
RBI: Allard, Emily 1 ; Duehr, Olivia 4 ; Albanese, Sammy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Scharkey, Kristin 1 ; Monka, Adrienne 1 ; Ackerman, Lauren 1 ; Bast, Marisa 1 ; Duehr, Olivia 1 ; Mehrsheikh, Amanda 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 19 Oregon Subdues Northwestern Comeback, 10-6
2/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Northwestern now is 4-8 on the season following the loss while Oregon improves to 6-2. The Ducks were the seventh team ranked in one of the two top-25 polls that the Wildcats have faced in their first 12 games this season.
Freshman starter Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) retired the first two Ducks to the plate in the top of the first, but Oregon rallied from there to load the bases. With a 3-1 count on the next batter, Letourneau got her to roll over and hit a harmless grounder to Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) at short to end the inning.
Neither team recorded a hit until the top of the third inning when Oregon plated the game's first run with a one-out double. Later in the frame, back-to-back two-run singles extended that advantage to 5-0, and Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) took over in the circle for Letourneau. Before the inning ended, the Ducks had a 7-0 lead.
Sophomore Sammy Albanese (Belmont, Calif./Castilleja) entered the circle for Northwestern to start the fourth, needing just 10 pitches to put a zero on the scoreboard. To start the bottom of the frame, Oregon also replaced its pitcher. The Wildcats went to work on the new hurler when junior Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) placed a one-out single through the infield's left side and moved to second on a wild pitch. Senior Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) then walked, with ball four coming on an illegal pitch that moved Scharkey to third.
Sophomore Marisa Bast (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) worked a 10-pitch walk to load the bases, then freshman Olivia Duehr (Antioch, Ill./Antioch) launched Northwestern right back into the ballgame with a tatered grand slam to left, cutting the deficit all the way down to three, 7-4. The shot was Duehr's second of the day and her third of the season.
At that point, Oregon elected to re-enter its starting pitcher -- who had exited with a no-hitter through three frames -- to finish out the inning.
Oregon put its first two runners on in the top of the fifth before a groundout moved them both up a bag. Northwestern then took alert advantage of a botched squeeze attempt, with catcher Paige Tonz (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) starting a rundown on the Duck at third to record the second out. Albanese ended the inning with a looking strikeout to hold the game's margin at three. With the score the same in the top of the sixth and a runner a third, Albanese performed the same trick with another inning-ending backward K.
Northwestern loaded the bases again in the bottom of the sixth on a Monka walk, a Bast single that landed near the second baseman before spinning violently over behind first base and a walk to Duehr. With one out in the inning, Albanese ripped a one-hopper back at the pitcher, who saved her face from the ball but saw it bounce away off her glove for an RBI single. The next batter put the ball in play, but Oregon turned a picture perfect double play to end the inning with the score 7-5.
The Ducks were able to fight back against the building Wildcat momentum with a two-out, three-run home run in the top of the seventh to make it a 10-5 game.
Lamberth led off the bottom of the seventh with a ball into the right-side hole where it got pushed by the diving glove of a fielder to result in a double. Amanda Mehrsheikh (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) entered to run for Lamberth, moving to third on a groundout off the bat of Mari Majam (Pine Valley, Calif./Mountain Empire) and scoring on an Allard groundout to make it 10-6 before the game ended.
Letourneau (3-5) took the loss, allowing six runs on five hits and five walks with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings of work. Lamberth threw two-thirds of an inning, allowing an unearned run on a hit and a walk. Albanese tossed 4.0 innings of relief, giving up three runs on two hits and five walks with two strikeouts.
Northwestern returns to action at 11 a.m. CT (9 a.m. local) against No. 11 Missouri in the Wildcats' final game at the 2012 Cathedral City Classic.
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