#B1GCats Bow Out of Big Ten Tourney in Semifinal, 8-4

Saturday, May 14

University Park, Pa.

1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET

Northwestern

26-26

Minnesota

40-12

Minnesota

Northwestern

#B1GCats Bow Out of Big Ten Tourney in Semifinal, 8-4

5/14/2016 5:14:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Northwestern answered seemingly every rally from No. 23 Minnesota Saturday in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament, but in the end the Gophers pulled away and advanced to the title game over the Wildcats, 8-4.

Northwestern ends the tournament with a 26-26 record including a 16-6 mark in its last 22 games played. Minnesota earned its 40^th win of the season to sit at 40-12 after the contest.

Northwestern's NCAA Tournament resume now is complete and in the hands of the committee. The Wildcats played one of the nation's toughest schedules once again in 2016, and won a couple of huge games early over No. 2 Michigan and No. 14 UCLA despite ending up with a 10-20 overall mark through the first 30 games. Beginning with a 10-2 run-rule victory over these very same ranked Gophers, the Wildcats got red hot and concluded the year with that 16-6 run to climb into a third-place finish in the Big Ten.

The selection show is at 9 p.m. CT tomorrow night, Sunday, May 15, on ESPNU.

Minnesota jumped on top quickly Saturday, turning a leadoff walk and a one-out single into a 3-0 lead via a home run off Northwestern starter Kristen Wood.

The Wildcats would not be bullied in the inning. Sabrina Rabin announced that intention with a leadoff single before, one out later, racing all the way around to score on a booming Andrea Filler double off the top of the left-field wall. Filler later moved to third on a wild pitch and scored when Amy Letourneau put a ground ball in play to cut the deficit down to a single run, 3-2, heading into the second.

Filler's double was the 40^th of her Northwestern career, giving her third place all-time in program history behind only Garland Cooper and Tammy Williams -- despite the fact that Filler is a transfer student-athlete who has played just three years at NU. The double also was Filler's 14^th of the season, tying her season-best set last year with a total that ranks fifth in school history.

Minnesota stroked a leadoff single against Wood in the second, leading to Letourneau taking over. The Gophers quickly loaded the bases with no outs, but Letourneau limited the damage to just a sacrifice fly, keeping the contest under control, 4-2, to the bottom half, where NU battled back once again. Fran Strub led off with a line-drive single to center, moved to second on an Alcy Bush sacrifice, to third on a Krista Williams groundout, then scored when Rabin singled for a second time.

Minnesota led off the third inning with a solo home run and then, after holding Northwestern scoreless for the first time in the game in the bottom of the third, plated a single run again in the fourth. In both of those frames the Gophers put runners at second and third with one out after scoring, and both times Letourneau stranded them there to keep the score a manageable 6-3 going into the bottom of the fourth.

It was the Gophers turn to stave off a monster rally in the bottom of the fourth. Strub started the Wildcats' rally with a walk and Williams continued it with a one-out single. Rabin followed with her third single of the game, a bouncer up the middle that brought Strub home to make it a 6-4 contest. Morgan Nelson then came to the plate an annihilated a line drive toward right, but the second baseman leapt high in the air to make the catch and double off Rabin to abruptly end the inning.

Before the top of the fifth could begin, tournament officials informed the umpires and teams about impending heavy rain and the decision was made to enter a rain delay. That forecast came to fruition in the form of a 10-minute deluge, after which the tarp was removed and field re-prepped. Play restarted after a one hour, 18 minute delay with a Minnesota single on the first pitch followed by a two-run home run to make it an 8-4 game. Letourneau retired the next three Gophers in order.

Minnesota retired NU in order in the bottom of the fifth, the first 1-2-3 inning for either side in the game. The Wildcats responded by facing the minimum in a scoreless top of the sixth, erasing a leadoff walk with a 5-4-3 double play.

The score remained the same in the bottom of the seventh when Rabin led off with her career-best-tying fourth hit of the game. With two outs and still just that one runner aboard, Letourneau drew a walk, but that's all the further the rally would go.

Wood (3-7) took the loss in the game, giving up four runs on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 1+ innings as the starter. Letourneau pitched the final 6.0 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

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