Nebraska Scores Three in the Seventh to Beat Northwestern, 4-3

Friday, April 15

Evanston, Ill.

4 p.m. CT

Northwestern

16-21, 7-5

Nebraska

26-14, 7-5

Nebraska

Northwestern

Nebraska Scores Three in the Seventh to Beat Northwestern, 4-3

4/15/2016 6:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern finally broke through against a tough Nebraska pitching performance with a three-run sixth inning Friday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field only to see the Cornhuskers plate three runs of their own in the seventh for a 4-3 win over the Wildcats.

Northwestern now is 16-21 overall, 7-5 in the Big Ten after having its six-game winning streak snapped. Nebraska is 26-14 on the season, 7-5 in the conference. The two teams meet again at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, April 16. Come tailgate early with your friends and get in the stands early for a major WCWS Reunion ceremony pregame! A sweet purple shirt with the Chicago flag weaved into the NU logo also will be given out to the first 300 fans through the gate.

NU starter Amy Letourneau held Nebraska at bay for the entire game until the seventh inning, allowing just a single hit (though it was a solo home). The Huskers notched their other three hits of the contest all in the seventh inning.

Northwestern's defense came to play early in this one with junior Alcy Bush snaring two screaming grounders at first, Morgan Nelson snagging a one-hop smash at third and Andrew Filler gloving a frozen rope at short to keep Nebraska off the board in the first two innings.

The Wildcats put a couple of runners aboard in the second on an Letourneau single and a Brooke Marquez walk, but it was the Cornhuskers who scored first with a leadoff home run in the top of the fourth -- Nebraska's first hit of the entire game against NU's starter Letourneau.

Filler made a bid to tie the game leading off the bottom of the fourth, crushing a two-strike offering all the way to the fence in dead center, but with the wind blowing in the Nebraska fielder was able to backtrack and glove it with her back pressed up against the fence.

Bush led off the bottom of the fifth with a rifle into right for a single. Pinch runner Abbey Boyd eventually made it to third with two outs but Cornhuskers' starter and reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week Cassie McClure retired a pinch hitter to keep Northwestern off the board.

Nebraska put together its first actual rally of the game in the top of the sixth, and Letourneau walked the high wire perfectly. The first two batters to the plate reached on a walk and a hit by pitch before Letourneau got a strikeout. An error then loaded the bases with still just one down, but the fifth-year senior recorded a backward K and then a foul out to keep it a one-run contest.

The #B1GCats responded in kind in the bottom half. With one out, Nelson and Filler each walked before Letourneau dumped her second single of the game into left field to load the bases. Sammy Nettling came up and quickly faced an 0-2 count before fouling off several McClure offerings, then ripping a single back through the middle that sent Nelson and Filler racing home and NU racing into the lead, 2-1.

Bush followed with her second single of the game, slotting a ball just through the left side of the infield to send pinch runner Marissa Panko across the plate for a 3-1 Northwestern advantage entering the seventh inning.

In that seventh, the leadoff batter hit a solo home run before the next Cornhusker walked. A popped up bunt led to the first out of the frame, but a two-run homer followed to put Nebraska back in front, 4-3. The inning continued with a walk and a single, leading to freshman Kenzie Ellis entering the circle in relief. Ellis retired the next two batters to strand both inherited runners and keep NU's deficit at one, but the Wildcats went down in order in the seventh.

Letourneau (7-8) went 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts.

Letourneau and Bush each had two hits while Nettling drove in a pair.

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