Sunday, February 14
Tempe, Ariz.
10 a.m. CT/9 a.m. MT
Northwestern
3-1
8
vs
4
Bradley
1-4
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Bradley
2
0
2
0
0
0
0
4
8
2
Northwestern
2
1
4
0
0
1
X
8
7
1
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
Northwestern Outpaces Bradley, 8-4
2/14/2016 12:46:00 PM | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – Northwestern and Bradley fought an early-morning back-and-forth battle Sunday at the Kajikawa Classic that featured several ties and lead changes early before the Wildcats surged ahead with a four-run third en route to an 8-4 victory.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 3-1 on the season while Bradley concludes its Kajikawa schedule with a 1-4 mark. The Wildcats return to action immediately against the sixth-ranked Ducks of Oregon.
Bradley used a Northwestern error against its leadoff batter to spark a two-run top of the first rally against Wildcats starter freshman Kaley Winegarner. Two doubles later in the inning drove in those two Braves runs.
Northwestern tied the game immediately in the bottom of the first, beginning its rally in the exact same way that Bradley did. Sophomore Sabrina Rabin reached on an error when the first baseman could not handle the throw on a chopper to short. She then stole second and came around to score when senior Andrea Filler ripped a triple through the third baseman and down the left-field line. One batter later, sophomore Sammy Nettling smashed a fly ball deep to center, easily allowing Filler to trot home and tie the contest on the sacrifice fly.
With two outs in the first, NU continued to rally on walks to senior Aubrie May and sophomore Brooke Marquez as well as a hit by pitch issued to junior Anna Petersen, but no more runs came for the Wildcats -- yet.
After a 1-2-3 top of the second from Winegarner, Northwestern got junior Krista Williams aboard via a single and Rabin on with a walk in the bottom of the frame. Bradley immediately replaced starting pitcher Megan Mahaffy with Julie Kestas, who promptly walked Filler to load the bases. After a force on Williams at the plate, Nettling worked a walk to push Rabin home and give NU the lead, 3-2. Bradley changed pitchers for the second time in the inning, bringing in Jaelen Hull, who coaxed a pop-up and deep flyout to left center to end the inning.
In the top of the third, Bradley plated two more runs leading to Amy Letourneau to enter the game in relief of Winegarner. With the Braves on top, 4-3, and a runner at second, Letourneau got a groundout followed by a line-drive double play started well by May to end the inning with the NU deficit at just one.
Once again Northwestern seesawed its way into the lead in the third. With one out, Marissa Panko walked and Williams notched her second hit of the game before, with two outs, Filler drove a double into the right center gap to score them both. Letourneau and Nettling each followed with RBI singles of their own to make the score 7-4 heading into the fourth.
All offenses were quiet until the top of the sixth when Bradley loaded the bases with nobody out. Letourneau recovered to get a pop out in foul territory behind third base that Filler raced over from short to glove. The fifth-year senior pitcher then notched a pair of strikeouts to strand all three runners.
Northwestern added to its lead in its half of the sixth. Letourneau and Nettling were hit by pitches to begin the inning, with pinch runner Abbey Boyd taking over for Letourneau. She later scored when Brianna LeBeau ripped a pinch-hit single through the right side of the infield for an 8-4 NU lead going to the seventh. The RBI pinch hit was LeBeau's third in four games this season.
Letourneau (2-1) earned the win in relief, going 5.0 innings and allowing no runs on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The win was the 50th in Letourneau's career in the circle for the Wildcats; she ranks seventh all-time at Northwestern with a 50-35 career record.
Winegarner went two-plus innings in the start, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and now walks with a strikeout.
Filller led Northwestern at the plate with a double, triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. Nettling drove in a trio and Williams had a pair of hits.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 3-1 on the season while Bradley concludes its Kajikawa schedule with a 1-4 mark. The Wildcats return to action immediately against the sixth-ranked Ducks of Oregon.
Bradley used a Northwestern error against its leadoff batter to spark a two-run top of the first rally against Wildcats starter freshman Kaley Winegarner. Two doubles later in the inning drove in those two Braves runs.
Northwestern tied the game immediately in the bottom of the first, beginning its rally in the exact same way that Bradley did. Sophomore Sabrina Rabin reached on an error when the first baseman could not handle the throw on a chopper to short. She then stole second and came around to score when senior Andrea Filler ripped a triple through the third baseman and down the left-field line. One batter later, sophomore Sammy Nettling smashed a fly ball deep to center, easily allowing Filler to trot home and tie the contest on the sacrifice fly.
With two outs in the first, NU continued to rally on walks to senior Aubrie May and sophomore Brooke Marquez as well as a hit by pitch issued to junior Anna Petersen, but no more runs came for the Wildcats -- yet.
After a 1-2-3 top of the second from Winegarner, Northwestern got junior Krista Williams aboard via a single and Rabin on with a walk in the bottom of the frame. Bradley immediately replaced starting pitcher Megan Mahaffy with Julie Kestas, who promptly walked Filler to load the bases. After a force on Williams at the plate, Nettling worked a walk to push Rabin home and give NU the lead, 3-2. Bradley changed pitchers for the second time in the inning, bringing in Jaelen Hull, who coaxed a pop-up and deep flyout to left center to end the inning.
In the top of the third, Bradley plated two more runs leading to Amy Letourneau to enter the game in relief of Winegarner. With the Braves on top, 4-3, and a runner at second, Letourneau got a groundout followed by a line-drive double play started well by May to end the inning with the NU deficit at just one.
Once again Northwestern seesawed its way into the lead in the third. With one out, Marissa Panko walked and Williams notched her second hit of the game before, with two outs, Filler drove a double into the right center gap to score them both. Letourneau and Nettling each followed with RBI singles of their own to make the score 7-4 heading into the fourth.
All offenses were quiet until the top of the sixth when Bradley loaded the bases with nobody out. Letourneau recovered to get a pop out in foul territory behind third base that Filler raced over from short to glove. The fifth-year senior pitcher then notched a pair of strikeouts to strand all three runners.
Northwestern added to its lead in its half of the sixth. Letourneau and Nettling were hit by pitches to begin the inning, with pinch runner Abbey Boyd taking over for Letourneau. She later scored when Brianna LeBeau ripped a pinch-hit single through the right side of the infield for an 8-4 NU lead going to the seventh. The RBI pinch hit was LeBeau's third in four games this season.
Letourneau (2-1) earned the win in relief, going 5.0 innings and allowing no runs on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts. The win was the 50th in Letourneau's career in the circle for the Wildcats; she ranks seventh all-time at Northwestern with a 50-35 career record.
Winegarner went two-plus innings in the start, allowing four runs (two earned) on five hits and now walks with a strikeout.
Filller led Northwestern at the plate with a double, triple, three RBIs and two runs scored. Nettling drove in a trio and Williams had a pair of hits.
••••••
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Letourneau, Amy (2-1)
L: Hull, Jaelen (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Schroeder, Maria 1 ; Huggins, Rachel 1
RBI: Schroeder, Maria 3 ; Huggins, Rachel 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kapp, Kelly 1 ; Duffy, Kendall 2 ; Schroeder, Maria 1
SB: Kapp, Kelly 3 ; Duffy, Kendall 1
HBP: Clemente, Alyson 1
Batting:
2B: Filler, Andrea 1
3B: Filler, Andrea 1
RBI: Filler, Andrea 3 ; Letourneau, Amy 1 ; Nettling, Sammy 3 ; LeBeau, Brianna 1
SF: Nettling, Sammy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 2 ; Filler, Andrea 2 ; Letourneau, Amy 1 ; Bush, Alcy 1 ; Panko, Marissa 1 ; Williams, Krista 1
SB: Rabin, Sabrina 2 ; Williams, Krista 2
HBP: Letourneau, Amy 1 ; Nettling, Sammy 1 ; Petersen, Anna 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
rf/lf
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
dp/p
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
1
R
0
H
1
RBI
3
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ SoftballP/1B
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
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