Nebraska Wins 11-Inning Affair Over Northwestern, 11-9

Sunday, April 17

Evanston, Ill.

Noon CT

Northwestern

16-23, 7-7

Nebraska

28-14, 9-6

Nebraska

Northwestern

Nebraska Wins 11-Inning Affair Over Northwestern, 11-9

4/17/2016 4:57:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. – In a game in which both teams held leads of at least four runs at one point, Northwestern and Nebraska needed extra innings to decide the final game of their Big Ten series Sunday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. A pitcher's duel broke out after the seventh until the Huskers plated two unearned runs in the top of the 11^th for an 11-9 (11) win over NU.

Northwestern now is 16-23 overall, 7-7 in the Big Ten. Nebraska is 28-14 on the season, 9-5 in the conference. The Wildcats return to action on Senior Weekend April 22-24 at Sharon J. Drysdale Field against Michigan State.

Northwestern started this game with a 5-0 lead after two innings only to see Nebraska come roaring back to take a 9-5 edge through 5.5 innings. NU scored three times in the sixth and tied the game on a solo home run in the seventh to send it to extras, where Friday's Game One starters Amy Letourneau and Cassie McClure engaged in a battle to the bitter end.

Sabrina Rabin led off the bottom of the first with a solid single into center, then she swiped second. Morgan Nelson walked behind her before, one out later, Letourneau got the sweet spot and crushed a sweet shot over the fence in right center for a three-run home run and a 3-0 NU lead.

NU starter Kenzie Ellis notched a two-strikeout top of the second before the offense had some more fun in the bottom half. Fran Strub led off with a big double into the left-center gap, leading to Nebraska lifting starter McClure for Emily Lockman. One out later, Rabin ripped a double down the left-field line that brought Strub home. Walks to Nelson and Andrea Filler followed to load the bases and Letourneau cashed in anther RBI with a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-0 game after two innings.

Nebraska got its first hit of the game in the top of the third courtesy of a leadoff home run, and would add a two-out RBI single later in the frame. Then, in the fourth, a two-out bases-loaded single brought two more runs across to cut the NU lead all the way down to one, 5-4.

The Huskers put Game Two starter Kaylan Jablonski into the circle to begin the bottom of the fourth. She issued Nelson's third walk of the game with two outs, but nothing else in that inning.

Ellis settled down in the top of the fifth to keep Nebraska scoreless for the first time since the second inning, working around a one-out error with a pair of strikeouts to match her career high with five Ks in the game.

Northwestern put two on with two outs in the fifth courtesy of a Letourneau walk and a Brooke Marquez single. Nebraska, as it had in every inning since the second, did not allow either base runner to score.

The Huskers completed their comeback when Kiki Stokes hit her second leadoff home run of the game to start the sixth, knotting the score at 5-5. Kaley Winegarner then entered the circle in relief of Ellis. The first batter walked before Rabin made an incredible sliding catch in right center for the first out. A hit batter and two doubles followed, however, to shove Nebraska into the lead, 8-5, and Letourneau into the circle in relief.

Nebraska did not let up, tacking on one more tally for a 9-5 edge before the rally finally died.

The Wildcats showed fight in the bottom of the sixth. Krista Williams led off with a walk, then with one out Nelson lined a two-run home run just inside the pole down the left-field line to cut the deficit in half, 9-7. The homer marked Nelson's first official at-bat of the game after she walked in her three previous plate appearances; she now has eight dingers in her rookie season.

The rally continued with Letourneau's second jack of the game, a solo shot that brought NU all the way back within a run, 9-8. Her home runs in the game were the 40^th and 41st of Letourneau's storied Northwestern career and her 11^th and 12^th of the 2016 season. She now is tied with Michelle Batts (2008-11) for sixth in NU history for dingers.

Nebraska made a bid to open its lead up again in the top of the seventh, but Northwestern did everything possible to keep it a one-run contest. The Huskers loaded the bases with no outs and the Wildcats proceeded to get athletic plays from Letourneau in the circle and Nelson at third to force out runners at the plate. Marquez then stayed with an incredibly tough and hard-hit ground ball toward second, playing the carom off her body and flipping it to first to end the frame.

Marquez carried that desire to win into the bottom of the seventh, when she lined her third home run of the season over the fence in left center to tie the game, 7-7, much to the thunderous approval of the crowd at The J. With two outs, both Williams walked and Rabin singled, but Nebraska was able to retire Nelson for the first time in the game to send the contest to extras.

Letourneau fanned two batters as part of a 1-2-3 top of the eighth, but Nebraska's McClure -- who re-entered the game following Letourneau's sixth-inning homer -- returned the favor.

After Letourneau took care of the top of the Nebraska order in the ninth, Alcy Bush led off the bottom half with a single into center. Marquez -- she of the game-tying home run in the seventh -- adopted a different approach to help her team in extras by sacrificing Bush to second. With first base open, Nebraska intentionally walked the red-hot Strub. Williams served a single into right to load the bases with one down, but Rabin followed with a sharp liner to third that was caught to start an inning-ending double play, keeping the contest going.

NU got into the double play game in the top of the 10^th, erasing a leadoff single with a wonderfully executed 4-6-3 inning-ending double play. In the bottom half, Filler drew a one-out walk before Letourneau dumped a single into left to push Filler into scoring position. Pinch hitter Marissa Panko moved them both up a bag with a productive groundout, but yet another line out ended the threat.

In the top of the 11^th, with a runner at third and the heart of the order up, Northwestern worked strategically around a couple of batters -- the second of which was a straight-up intentional walk -- to load the bases. The next Husker hit a grounder to third, but the throw to first bounced in and away, allowing two runs to score and giving Nebraska an 11-9 lead.

With one out in the bottom of the 11^th, Strub dabbed her second double of the game. She made it as far as third, but NU did not have a final miracle left in it.

Letourneau (7-9) took the loss in relief, pitching largely quite well in the most intense part of the game. She allowed just the two unearned runs in the 11^th, giving up three hits and four walks otherwise with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work. She also led NU at the plate with a three-hit day, driving in five with her two home runs and scoring twice.

Ellis got a no-decision in the start, throwing six-plus innings and allowing five runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts. Winegarner allowed four runs (three earned) on two hits, a walk and a hit batter in one-third of a frame in relief.

Outside of Letourneau at the plate, Rabin had three hits and two runs while Marquez and Strub each had two hits apiece. Nelson had just the one hit, a two-run home run, but she also walked three times and scored twice.

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