Northwestern University Athletics
Saturday, March 19
Clearwater, Fla.
4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET
Northwestern
9-14
2
vs
3
Kent State University
16-5
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Kent State
0
0
0
0
0
3
0
3
4
0
Northwestern
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
2
6
2
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
Kent State Comeback Flashes Past Wildcats, 3-2
3/19/2016 6:30:00 PM | Softball
1CLEARWATER, Fla. - Kent State staged a sixth-inning rally Saturday to remain perfect at the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament, scoring three unearned runs to come back and defeat Northwestern, 3-2.
Northwestern now is 9-14 overall on the season. Kent State is 16-5. The Wildcats conclude the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, March 20, against Georgia Tech.
Northwestern scored right away in this one in the bottom of the first, beginning with Sabrina Rabin smashing a leadoff double. Krista Williams sacrificed her to third, then, with two outs, Amy Letourneau ripped a single into left to stake the Wildcats to a 1-0 advantage.
Northwestern starting pitcher Kristen Wood had an interesting thing going in the circle, mowing down the first two Kent State batters of each of the first three innings before the third would reach, followed quickly by Wood retiring the fourth Golden Flash to the plate. In the third inning, Wood faced four batters and got three outs on just five pitches.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the third in almost identical fashion to their manufactured run in the first. Rabin led off with a single and stole second, then raced to third when Williams put down a teamwork groundout to second base. Andrea Filler put a ball in play that allowed Rabin to scamper home and just like that, 2-0.
Kent State, which garnered base runners in every inning of the game, finally plated three of them in the top of the sixth. A leadoff double got the rally started and a couple of Northwestern errors contributed to all three runs being unearned.
NU attempted to battle back in the bottom half when Filler led off with a walk and Letourneau was hit by a pitch. Anna Petersen put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both up, but Kent State's Ronnie Ladines got two strikeouts to keep her side on top.
Letourneau took over in the circle in the top of the seventh and pitched around a single base runner. In the bottom half, Sammy Nettling led off by drawing a pinch-hit walk and Morgan Nelson took over for her on the base paths. Nelson swiped second and moved to third on a productive Marissa Panko groundout to stand there with one out, but again the Golden Flashes bore down and stranded the tying run at third.
Wood (1-4) took the loss, going six innings and allowing three unearned runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Letourneau pitched a scoreless seventh.
Rabin led the way at the plate with two hits, a steal and two runs scored.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
Northwestern now is 9-14 overall on the season. Kent State is 16-5. The Wildcats conclude the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament at 10:15 a.m. CT/11:15 a.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, March 20, against Georgia Tech.
Northwestern scored right away in this one in the bottom of the first, beginning with Sabrina Rabin smashing a leadoff double. Krista Williams sacrificed her to third, then, with two outs, Amy Letourneau ripped a single into left to stake the Wildcats to a 1-0 advantage.
Northwestern starting pitcher Kristen Wood had an interesting thing going in the circle, mowing down the first two Kent State batters of each of the first three innings before the third would reach, followed quickly by Wood retiring the fourth Golden Flash to the plate. In the third inning, Wood faced four batters and got three outs on just five pitches.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the third in almost identical fashion to their manufactured run in the first. Rabin led off with a single and stole second, then raced to third when Williams put down a teamwork groundout to second base. Andrea Filler put a ball in play that allowed Rabin to scamper home and just like that, 2-0.
Kent State, which garnered base runners in every inning of the game, finally plated three of them in the top of the sixth. A leadoff double got the rally started and a couple of Northwestern errors contributed to all three runs being unearned.
NU attempted to battle back in the bottom half when Filler led off with a walk and Letourneau was hit by a pitch. Anna Petersen put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both up, but Kent State's Ronnie Ladines got two strikeouts to keep her side on top.
Letourneau took over in the circle in the top of the seventh and pitched around a single base runner. In the bottom half, Sammy Nettling led off by drawing a pinch-hit walk and Morgan Nelson took over for her on the base paths. Nelson swiped second and moved to third on a productive Marissa Panko groundout to stand there with one out, but again the Golden Flashes bore down and stranded the tying run at third.
Wood (1-4) took the loss, going six innings and allowing three unearned runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Letourneau pitched a scoreless seventh.
Rabin led the way at the plate with two hits, a steal and two runs scored.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: LADINES, Ronnie (10-1)
L: Wood, Kristen (1-4)
Batting:
2B: TILTON, Shelbi 1
RBI: ROUSH, Arika 1 ; HARRISON, Kiley 1 ; HOPKINS, Hailey 1
SF: ROUSH, Arika 1
Base Running:
RUNS: TILTON, Shelbi 1 ; BROWNFIELD, Bailey 1 ; LADINES, Ronnie 1
HBP: ROUSH, Arika 1 ; SPEERS, Holly 1 ; BRANCIFORT, Hunter 1 ; BROWNFIELD, Bailey 1 ; HARRISON, Kiley 1
Batting:
2B: Rabin, Sabrina 1
RBI: Filler, Andrea 1 ; Letourneau, Amy 1
SH: Williams, Krista 1 ; Filler, Andrea 1 ; Petersen, Anna 1 ; Bush, Alcy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 2
SB: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1
HBP: Letourneau, Amy 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
dp/p
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
lf/rf
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballP/1B
/ Softball
IF/C
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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