Saturday, February 25
Cathedral City, Calif.
Noon CT/10 a.m. PT
Northwestern
1-10
3
vs
6
Washington
9-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Northwestern
1
0
0
0
0
2
0
3
4
1
Washington
0
0
2
0
4
0
X
6
6
0
NU Battles Back, Falls to No. 8 Washington, 6-3
2/25/2017 1:23:00 PM | Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Northwestern took the game's first lead, but a four-run fifth put No. 8 Washington in the lead for good in a 6-3 Wildcats loss Saturday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
Washington improves to 9-2 on the year with its win while Northwestern now is 1-10 on the year. The game concludes Northwestern's streak of six-straight games against top-25 opponents and a stretch of eight games against ranked foes in NU's first 11 of 2017.
Northwestern returns to action later Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. PT against N.C. State at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic.
One night after scuffling to find the big hit against No. 11 Georgia, Northwestern got an immediate big swing in the top of the first against the eighth-ranked Huskies. With two outs, Kenzie Ellis jacked a ball over the fence in right to stake NU to an immediate 1-0 lead on the first home run of her career.
Ellis turned right around and had a strong start in the circle, as well, facing the minimum through the first two innings with a couple of strikeouts. In the bottom of the third, Washington loaded the bases with two outs on a single, a hit batter and a walk. The next batter put the ball in play on the infield, and an error allowed two runs to come in to put the Huskies on top, 2-1.
The score remained the same in the bottom of the fifth when Washington led off with a double. NU replaced Ellis in the circle with Morgan Newport, but the Huskies were not finished. The next three batters went single-single-home run to break the game open, 6-1. After the homer, two more Huskies reached, but Newport was able to strand them at second and third with a strikeout to keep NU's deficit from growing larger.
In the top of the sixth, Sabrina Rabin raced to first for a one-out infield single before Krista Williams walked. Ellis grounded out but moved both up a base, then Newport worked a full count free pass to load the bases. Morgan Nelson delivered the goods this time, shooting a two-run single back up the middle to bring Rabin and Williams home, cutting into the score, 6-3, before the rally ended.
Kaley Winegarner took over in the circle to start the bottom of the sixth for Northwestern. The first batter drew a walk after an extended at-bat, but Sammy Nettling threw her out trying to steal -- the second runner in the game Nettling retired attempting to swipe second. Two more Huskies also reached base in the frame before Winegarner got a foul out to end it.
In the seventh, NU was unable to replicate its sixth-inning rally.
Ellis (0-5) took the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 4.0 frames in the start. Newport was charged with three runs on four hits and a walk in 1.0 inning. Winegarner walked three in her scoreless frame.
••••••
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Manti (1-0)
L: Ellis, Kenzie (0-5)
Batting:
HR: Ellis, Kenzie 1
RBI: Ellis, Kenzie 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Williams, Krista 1 ; Ellis, Kenzie 1
Batting:
2B: Thomas 1
HR: Stangel 1
RBI: Aguilar 1 ; Stangel 2 ; Burdick 1
SH: Burdick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Aguilar 2 ; Stangel 1 ; Thomas 2 ; Burdick 1
CS: Van Zee 1 ; Thomas 1
HBP: Aguilar 1 ; Stangel 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
p/dp
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballIF/C
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
P/U
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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