Georgia Tech Erases Northwestern Lead, Drops Wildcats, 3-2

3/20/2016 12:49:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Once again the comeback bug bit Northwestern Sunday morning at the USF Clearwater Spring Break Tournament when Georgia Tech erased a 2-0 Wildcats lead in the fifth inning and held on for a 3-2 victory over NU.

Northwestern now is 9-15 overall on the season. Georgia Tech is 12-16. Northwestern plays a Spring Break midweek game at South Florida in Tampa at 4 p.m. CT/5 p.m. ET Tuesday, March 22.

Wildcats starter Kristen Wood was aces early on, at one point striking out four-straight Yellow Jackets between the first and second innings. She got support starting in the third inning, when Sabrina Rabin led off with a ground ball double that got all the way into the right-center gap before being cut off. One out later, Andrea Filler ripped a two-run bolt over the centerfield fence to stake the Wildcats to a 2-0 lead.

Filler's shot tied her with Amy Letourneau for the team lead on the season with six. Filler now has 32 home runs as a collegian and 24 as a Northwestern Wildcat.

After Wood mowed through the Georgia Tech order again in the third, NU's opponent lifted its starting pitcher Jenna Goodrich in favor of Emily Anderson to begin the fourth. Anderson went 1-2-3 through the bottom of the NU order before the Wildcats made a pitching change of their own, putting freshman Kaley Winegarner in the circle.

Georgia Tech took advantage of the switch and a Wildcats error to plate two unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth to knot the game, 2-2.

NU put together an answering rally in the top of the fifth starting with an Aubrie May pinch hit single and continuing with two-out walks to Filler and Letourneau that loaded the bases before Anderson escaped for Georgia Tech. The Wildcats then inserted Nicole Bond in to pitch the bottom half and Georgia Tech loaded the bases with one out on two walks and bizarre single off the knob of a bat that trickled into fair territory. At that point, Kenzie Ellis came in to pitch and got the second out on a force at the plate, but a wild pitch allowed the go-ahead run to score before Ellis completely shut down the inning.

Still trailing 3-2 in the top of the seventh, NU was unable to get a base runner and dropped the contest.

Wood threw the first three innings of the game, allowing just a single while striking out six. Winegarner went one inning and gave up two unearned runs on a hit and an error. Bond (0-1) took the first loss of her career, throwing one-third of an inning and giving up a run on one hit and two walks. Ellis tossed the final 1.2 frames, allowing no runs with one walk and a strikeout.