Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
23-9, 6-4
University of Minnesota
30-6, 8-3
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 3 |
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wood, Kristen (12-4)
L: Sara Moulton (19-5)
Batting:
2B: Majam, Mari 1 ; DiPrima, Andrea 1 ; Kuhn, Julia 1
3B: Filler, Andrea 1
RBI: Majam, Mari 1 ; Bast, Marisa 1 ; DiPrima, Andrea 2 ; Edwards, Anna 3 ; LeBeau, Brianna 1 ; Filler, Andrea 2 ; Kuhn, Julia 3
SH: Edwards, Anna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Allard, Emily 1 ; Majam, Mari 2 ; Bast, Marisa 3 ; DiPrima, Andrea 2 ; Williams, Krista 1 ; Edwards, Anna 1 ; LeBeau, Brianna 1 ; Strub, Fran 1 ; Tonz, Paige 1
SB: Allard, Emily 1 ; Williams, Krista 1
HBP: LeBeau, Brianna 1
Batting:
2B: Tyler Walker 1
HR: Tyler Walker 1 ; Kaitlyn Richardson 1 ; Hannah Granger 1
RBI: Tyler Walker 2 ; Kaitlyn Richardson 2 ; Hannah Granger 3 ; Erica Meyer 1
SH: Sam Macken 1 ; Kayla Wenner 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tyler Walker 2 ; Kaitlyn Richardson 1 ; Sara Groenewegen 1 ; Taylor LeMay 1 ; Bree Blanchette 1 ; Hannah Granger 3
SB: Erica Meyer 1
HBP: Tyler Walker 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 23 Northwestern Outslugs No. 14 Minnesota, 13-9
4/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Northwestern improves to 23-9 overall on the season with its win, 6-4 in the Big Ten. Minnesota falls to 30-6 on the season with its loss, 8-3 in the conference. The Wildcats and Golden Gophers return to action in at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, April 12, in game two of this weekend's marquee Big Ten series.
Minnesota's USA Softball Player of the Year Award finalist Sara Moulton started the game in the circle; entering the game, she had given up just 23 earned runs in 138.2 innings of work. Northwestern scored more than half of that in Friday's contest.
All nine Wildcats in the offensive lineup had at least one base hit, all but one had an RBI and all but two scored a run. NU scored runs in every inning save for the second inning.
Northwestern opened the scoring against Moulton right away in the first. With one out, Mari Majam (Pine Valley, Calif./Mountain Empire) drew a walk followed by a Marisa Bast (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) hot shot single. Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) then worked an 0-2 count back to full before lacing a double to the wall in right center to put Northwestern on top in the game, 2-0.
Minnesota struck right back with a leadoff double and a one-out home run to knot the score, 2-2, after one full inning.
The Wildcats threatened to score again in the top of the second when Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) legged out an infield single and Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) reached on an error, but the Gophers' third baseman made a beautiful drop step and over-the-shoulder lunge to rob Majam of an RBI base knock with two outs.
Northwestern needed a similar type of play to stem a Minnesota rally in the bottom half, but the Wildcats were unable to get the two-out catch, allowing the Gophers to plate one in the frame and take a 3-2 lead to the third.
The Wildcats continued to rally against the Gophers ace Moulton, breaking through for three more runs in the third. Bast drew a leadoff walk before DiPrima singled and Brianna LeBeau (Worth, Ill./H.L. Richards) was hit by a one-out pitch. Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) brought one run in with an RBI groundout then Kuhn dumped a texas-leaguer over the head of the shortstop and into center field to plate two more and give NU back the lead, 5-3.
Northwestern starter Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) needed just three pitches to record the first two outs of the bottom of the third, then worked around a two-out single for a nice shutdown inning after the NU offensive rally.
The Wildcats kept the momentum with three more runs in the top of the fourth. Majam led off the frame with a booming double to the base of the wall in left field before Bast was robbed of a hit on a line drive to second. Despite the out, NU continued to crush the ball with a single from DiPrima followed by a two-run single courtesy of Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) that scored Majam and pinch runner Krista Williams (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley). One out later, Filler ripped her team-leading fourth triple of the year into right center to bring in Edwards and make NU's lead in the contest 8-3.
Minnesota cut two-deep into that lead in the bottom of the fourth with its second two-run home run of the contest, then NU responded with another tally in the fifth. Paige Tonz (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) led off with her second single of the game and moved around to third when the throw on an Allard slap went wide of first for an error. Tonz then scampered home on a Majam groundout to make the score 9-5. Two outstanding defensive plays on the infield helped Minnesota strand Allard at third and keep NU out of double digits.
The Wildcats performed their own escape act in the bottom of the fifth. A couple of walks and an error allowed one Gopher to score before, with two outs and two in scoring position, Wood got a flyout to Allard in deep center just in front of the track to send the game to the sixth with NU still on top, 9-6.
Moulton threatened to hold Northwestern scoreless in the sixth for the first time since the second inning, but Filler ripped a two-out single and gave way to pinch runner Fran Strub (Coralville, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana), who scored when Kuhn boomed a double to left field, sending the Wildcats into double digits in a 10-6 game.
After Wood worked through a scoreless sixth by retiring the heart of the Minnesota order, NU put the finishing touches on its offensive master class with three more runs in the seventh. Allard led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Bast single. After DiPrima walked, back-to-back singles from Edwards and LeBeau drove in the Wildcats' final two runs of the contest.
Minnesota did not go quietly into the Minneapolis night, adding a three-run home run to its total in the seventh before Wood and NU shut the door on a 13-9 victory.
Wood (12-4) earned the complete-game win, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits and six walks with three strikeouts.
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