Three Wildcats Combine To No-Hit Boilermakers, 1-0

Saturday, May 7

West Lafayette, IN

Noon CT/1 p.m. ET

Northwestern

24-25, 14-8

Purdue

27-26, 8-14

Northwestern

Purdue

Three Wildcats Combine To No-Hit Boilermakers, 1-0

5/7/2016 2:40:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Kristen Wood, Kenzie Ellis and Amy Letourneau combined to throw a no-hitter and Andrea Filler broke a scoreless tie with a seventh-inning home run Saturday in a 1-0 Northwestern victory at Purdue.

Northwestern's record on the season now stands at 24-25, 14-8 in the B1G. Purdue is 27-26 overall, 8-14 in the conference. The two teams conclude the regular season against each other at 11 a.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, May 8.

First COMBINED since 1994. 50th in school history, first since Kristen Wood last year ?? #B1GCats https://t.co/MLOqBpdPLN
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) May 7, 2016

The no-hitter is the 50^th in school history and the first for the Wildcats since Wood did the deed against Ball State on March 8 of last year. It is the third combined no-hitter in program history, following on the heels of a pair of combined no-nos from Alison Ward/Beverly Stiglbauer and Michele Hawkins/Alison Ward in 1994.

The three-pitcher no-hitter is the first in program history. The game also featured two catchers, with Sammy Nettling behind the plate for the first five innings and Caylor Arnold catching the final two frames.

Wood went 3.0 innings in the start, allowing only a walk. Ellis then tossed the next two frames, with the only base runner reaching on an HBP. She started the sixth inning, but the leadoff Boiler reached via an error. Letourneau then came in to pick up the win and move to 13-10 overall with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief.

After a 6-up, 6-down first inning on both sides, Purdue had the game's first scoring chance in the bottom of the second. A leadoff walk motored around to third on a sacrifice bunt attempt when the throw to first went awry, but Fran Strub was alertly backing up the play from right field. She scooped up the ball and chased down the batter-runner, tagging her out and keeping the lead runner from advancing past third. It was the first runner Purdue had gotten to third in the entire series, and NU was able to keep her there to preserve the scoreless contest.

Northwestern had a chance of its own in the third. Alcy Bush led off the inning with a booming double that one-hopped the fence in left. Abbey Boyd replaced her on the base paths, moving to third when Krista Williams executed a sacrifice bunt. Sabrina Rabin then put a ball in play to the shortstop, but it was so well struck that the throw home was in plenty of time to tag Boyd out.

In the bottom of the fourth, freshman Ellis took over for Wood in the circle with a 1-2-3 inning that featured three wonderful plays on the infield. The first Boiler lined to third where Morgan Nelson reached down and dove to her left to snare it. The next batter lined to first where Bush made the exact same play in foul territory for the second out. The final batter to the plate hit a grounder up the middle that second baseman Brooke Marquez raced up the middle to glove in back of the bag before wheeling and firing to first in time to end the inning.

(WILD)Cat-Like REFLEXES!!!

Back-to-Back #BTNStandout defensive plays for @NUSBcats.#Wildcats @BTNStudentU https://t.co/idb1l87tOA
— Northwestern On BTN (@NUOnBTN) May 7, 2016

Purdue got its leadoff batter aboard in the sixth via an error, and Northwestern immediately put Letourneau in the circle in relief. After a sacrifice bunt, Letourneau got a pop out and a fly out to right to end the inning.

In the top of the seventh -- just as she did Friday -- Filler broke the tie, this time with a booming home run to dead center field to lead off the frame. The blast was Filler's 16^th of the season, the 34^th of her Northwestern career and the 42nd of her college career.

In just three years at NU, Filler is tied with Kristen Amegin (2003-06) for ninth on the Wildcats' all-time home run list. She is tied with Tammy Williams' 2007 season for third on the NU single-season dinger list.

Déjà vu!@NUSBcats break the tie in the top of the 7th.

Filler w/ the solo shot to take the lead!@BTNStudentU https://t.co/aazKQIPWYW
— Northwestern On BTN (@NUOnBTN) May 7, 2016

In the bottom of the seventh, Letourneau walked the first batter to the plate. She then responded in the most senior way possible: though Northwestern had not struck out a single batter in the entire game to that point, Letourneau fanned the side to finish off the no-no and, more importantly, the 1-0 NU win.

••••••
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!