Northwestern
14-11
Hofstra University
12-7-1
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Lashley, Morgan (8-1)
L: Letourneau, Amy (7-8)
Batting:
2B: Filler, Andrea 1 ; Letourneau, Amy 1
HR: DiPrima, Andrea 2 ; Kuhn, Julia 1
RBI: DiPrima, Andrea 2 ; Filler, Andrea 1 ; Letourneau, Amy 1 ; Kuhn, Julia 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; DiPrima, Andrea 2 ; Filler, Andrea 1 ; Kuhn, Julia 1
Batting:
HR: Bailey, Caryn 1 ; Trippi, Erin 1
RBI: Bailey, Caryn 1 ; Trippi, Erin 3 ; Pietrafesa, Brielle 1
SH: Pietrafesa, Brielle 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Bailey, Caryn 1 ; Smith, Kim 1 ; Allocca, Brittany 1 ; Trippi, Erin 2 ; Simodejka, Rachel 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
Hofstra Outlasts Northwestern in 10 Innings, 6-5
3/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NU (14-11) sees its seven-game winning streak snapped with the extra-inning loss -- its second-straight extra-inning contest after winning a 5-4, eight-inning game Sunday at Penn State. Hofstra (12-7-1) runs its own winning streak to five games with the victory.
Northwestern returns to action immediately against Fordham at Hofstra Softball Stadium.
Just days removed from a 13-home run barrage in a three-game sweep at Penn State, senior Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) got the Wildcats going right away with a one-out solo homer in the top of the first against Pride ace Taylor Pirone. The blast put NU starter Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) in the circle with the lead and also marked the first given up by Hofstra in the Pride's last five games.
From there, both Wood and Hofstra starter Taylor Pirone carved up the opposing lineups until the top of the fourth, when the Wildcats struck again. DiPrima led off the frame with her second solo home run of the contest to make it a 2-0 NU advantage on her team-leading sixth home run of the year and the 10th of her career. Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) followed with a sharp single into left before Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) doubled her home to extend the lead to 3-0.
The Letourneau shot knocked Pirone from the circle in the fourth in favor of Morgan Lashley, who retired NU in order to prevent any further damage.
In the bottom of the fourth, Hofstra bit back when its second hit of the game left the park to cut the Northwestern lead down to 3-1.
The Wildcats responded in the top of the fifth, beginning with a one-out single from the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Olivia Duehr (Antioch, Ill./Antioch). Krista Williams (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) replaced Duehr at first and then ran up to second when Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) fouled her way into a double-digit pitch walk. After Williams was retired at third, Filler doubled down the line in right to plate Rabin, though the trail runner was put out to end the inning with the score 4-1.
In the bottom of the sixth, Hofstra took advantage of a pair of walks to club a two-out, three-run home run and tie the game, 4-4.
In the bottom of the seventh, Hofstra loaded the bases with two outs in a still tied game and the batter worked the count full. With all the marbles riding on the pitch, Wood induced a swing-and-a-miss for her seventh strikeout of the game, sending the contest to extras.
Rabin led off the top of the eighth with a base hit and moved to second on a productive groundout by DiPrima, but the Hofstra ace Lashley continued to be dominant in relief, retiring the next two Wildcats to the plate. Wood then put Hofstra down 1-2-3 in the bottom half to send the game to the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, in front of family and friends during Northwestern's first trip to the East Coast in the Drohan era, New Jersey native Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) smashed a solo home run to dead center to lead off the frame. The shot was her second of the year and the fourth of her career.
With the score still 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the leadoff Pride batter stroked a soft liner into left center for a single. A pinch runner entered and moved up on a sacrifice bunt, then got to third with one out on a passed ball. A 10-pitch walk followed by a four-pitch walk to the top Pride batter loaded the bases with one out. Wood then got a flyout to shallow left, but a 2-2 pitch with two outs got to the backstop and tied the game, 5-5, to keep things going into the 10th.
Rabin smacked a one-out single in the top of the 10th, but was stranded on base with a Filler two-out line drive was snow-coned at third for the final out. At that point, Letourneau entered the circle in relief of Wood for the bottom of the 10th. With two outs and a runner at second, the batter softly lined into left and the throw to the plate was a step too late to prevent the winning run.
Letourneau (7-8) took the loss in two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on a hit and two walks with a strikeout. Wood went a career-long 9.0 innings in the start, giving up five runs on seven hits and six walks with eight strikeouts.
DiPrima led NU at the plate with two home runs while Filler and Rabin each had two hits apiece, as well.
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