Northwestern Drops Opener at No. 20 Michigan

3/31/2017 6:35:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – No. 20 Michigan made the first game of its series with Northwestern a rough welcome for the Wildcats with a 10-0 (5) win Friday night at Alumni Field.

Northwestern (13-17, 1-3 B1G) and Michigan (24-7-1, 4-0 B1G) continue their series at 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET tomorrow, Saturday, April 1 on BTN Plus. Sunday's 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET first pitch will be broadcast live on BTN.

No. 20 Michigan got a bit of luck to take the game's first lead in the bottom of the first. With two outs and runners at first and second against Northwestern starter Kaley Winegarner, the batter hit a weak pop-up off the end of the bat toward second base. Brooke Marquez charged it, but when it landed it took a direct right turn and headed past Marquez into right field to plate a run. A subsequent walk loaded the bases before another poorly hit fly ball fell in front of a sprinting Sabrina Rabin in center to score two more and give the Wolverines a 3-0 lead.

NU put runners in scoring position in each of the second and third innings against Michigan ace Megan Betsa, but both times the Wolverines escaped. In the second, Morgan Nelson led off with a single down the left-field line. She stole second and moved to third on a groundout, but ended the inning stuck there. Rabin beat out an infield single with two outs in the third and also swiped second, which is where she stood when the inning ended.

Michigan doubled its lead with three more runs in the third, using a hit batter and a walk to fuel its rally and make it a 6-0 game.

The Wolverines kept at it in the fourth. After a leadoff double, Kenzie Ellis took over in the circle for Winegarner. The first batter she faced beat a ball into the ground and over the head of Nelson at third for another Michigan RBI hit and a 7-0 U-M lead. The Wolverines quickly loaded the bases still with no outs before Ellis got a soft fly ball to left. Krista Williams charged hard and made a basket catch, firing to Marquez covering at second to double up an over-anxious trail runner.

The double play did not prevent the Wolverines from reaching run-rule territory, however, after a hard shot to third was knocked down but not caught, allowing an eighth run to come home. Michigan would make it a 10-0 contest before the inning came to an end.

In the top of the fifth, Marquez ripped a one-out single back through the middle against Betsa, but that was the final salvo for NU's offense on this day.

Winegarner (3-3) took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts in three-plus innings. It was her first rough outing since way back in the second weekend of the season. Ellis was charged with three runs on four hits and a walk with one K in 1.0 frame.

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Michigan

L, 0-6

Apr 1 (Sat)

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

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Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Betsa, Megan (12-5)

L: Winegarner, Kaley (3-3)

Northwestern

Base Running:

SB: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1

Michigan

Batting:

2B: Peters, Natalie 1 ; Canfield, Faith 1 ; Ramirez, Abby 1 ; Christner, Kelly 1

RBI: Canfield, Faith 1 ; Blanco, Tera 1 ; Ramirez, Abby 2 ; Christner, Kelly 4 ; Montemarano, Lindsay 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Peters, Natalie 1 ; Canfield, Faith 2 ; Vargas, Amanda 1 ; Richardson, Courtney 1 ; Blanco, Tera 1 ; Wald, Nikki 1 ; Ramirez, Abby 2 ; Christner, Kelly 1