Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, March 24
Evanston, Ill.
4 p.m. CT
Northwestern
11-15, 0-1
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Wisconsin
22-2, 1-0
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Northwestern
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No. 22 Wisconsin Pulls Away From Northwestern in B1G Opener
3/24/2017 7:18:00 PM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern and No. 22 Wisconsin traded blows early and often Friday afternoon in the teams' Big Ten opener at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, but two late home runs for the Badgers proved to be the final shots in a 14-5 Wildcats loss.
Northwestern starts Big Ten play with an 0-1 mark, and now is 11-15 on the season. Wisconsin improves to 22-2 on the year, 1-0 in the league.
The Wildcats and Badgers are scheduled to resume their series at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, March 25, though weather may have other ideas. Stay tuned to NUsports.com and @NUSBCats on Twitter for updates.
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The game brought on the best of Big Ten play in a big way early: lots of early lead changes and plenty of drama. The two teams combined to issue 16 walks in the game and when pitchers were forced to bring the ball over the plate, the offenses proved to be capable of making them pay.
Northwestern kicked off its home and Big Ten seasons in dramatic fashion defensively. The first batter of the game for the Badgers sent a hard-hit line drive to deep left-center, and senior Krista Williams was able to catch up with it to make the grab before slamming into the fence. Though the Badgers would put its next two on base, starter Kenzie Ellis escaped the frame.
Both Sabrina Rabin and Marissa Panko started the bottom of the first with infield singles for the Wildcats before, with one out, Sammy Nettling walked to load the bases. Morgan Nelson followed with a soft looper up the middle that the shortstop gloved on a hop, but the double play attempt was too slow and Rabin scored to give NU the first lead, 1-0.
Wisconsin grabbed the lead in the next half inning, using a two-out, two-on single against Northwestern starter Kenzie Ellis to score a pair and go on top, 2-1.
The Wildcats responded…immediately. NU loaded the bases with one out again in the bottom of the second, using an Anna Petersen single and walks to Krista Williams and Rabin to apply more pressure to Badgers starter Kaitlyn Menz. Panko smashed a two-run liner to center, then Elllis added an RBI flare of her own to cap a three-run rally that gave Northwestern the lead back, 4-2.
The Badgers got one of those runs back with sacrifice fly in the top of the third, then rallied again in the fourth. Midway through that frame, freshman Morgan Newport entered in relief of Ellis, but both inherited runners came home to again put Wisconsin on top, 5-4. Two leadoff walks in the top of the fifth also came home to score, extending the Badgers lead to three, 7-4.
Northwestern got one of those runs back in the bottom of the fifth. Nelson led off with an infield single, then raced around to third when a Brooke Marquez grounder was thrown away for an error. One out later, Alcy Bush hit a ball toward first that was good enough to score Nelson, making it a 7-5 game.
From there, Wisconsin tacked on a pair of three-run home runs late to pull away and claim the 14-5 win.
Ellis (3-6) took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched. Newport went 3.2 innings and was charged with nine runs (eight earned) on six hits and six walks with one strikeout.
Panko led NU at the plate with two hits and two RBI. Rabin scored twice.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Kaitlyn Menz (13-2)
L: Ellis, Kenzie (3-6)
Batting:
2B: Brooke Wyderski 1
HR: Jordan Little 2
RBI: Kelsey Jenkins 2 ; Sara Novak 1 ; Stephanie Lombardo 1 ; Jordan Little 7 ; Taylor Berry 1
SH: Kelly Welsh 2
SF: Sara Novak 1 ; Jordan Little 1 ; Taylor Berry 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Kelsey Jenkins 2 ; Chloe Miller 1 ; Brooke Wyderski 2 ; Sara Novak 1 ; Stephanie Lombardo 1 ; Heather Rudnicki 1 ; Jordan Little 4 ; Melanie Cross 1 ; Gabby Scherle 1
CS: McKenna Heim 1
HBP: Stephanie Lombardo 1
Batting:
RBI: Panko, Marissa 2 ; Ellis, Kenzie 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Bush, Alcy 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 2 ; Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Petersen, Anna 1 ; Williams, Krista 1
SB: Panko, Marissa 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Boyd, Abbey 1
Game Leaders
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RBI
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RBI
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p/dp
AB
3
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RBI
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Players Mentioned
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