Northwestern University Athletics
Friday, February 23
Cathedral City, Calif.
10:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. PT
Northwestern
6-5
0
vs
9
Long Beach State
11-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Long Beach State
0
3
2
2
0
2
9
11
0
Northwestern
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
1
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
Long Beach State Earns Late-Night Win Over Northwestern
2/24/2018 1:48:00 AM | Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Playing deep into the desert night Friday at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, Northwestern could never quite get rolling against Long Beach State in a 9-0 (6) loss.
Northwestern finishes its opening day at the Mary Nutter with a 1-1 record and now is 6-5 on the year. Long Beach State has broken its school record for the best start to a season, holding an 11-1 record after Friday.
Northwestern is back in action with a single game at 4:30 p.m. CT/2:30 p.m. PT tomorrow, Saturday, February 24, against No. 11 Tennessee.
Wildcats starter Kenna Wilkey stranded a Long Beach State runner at third base in the top of the first, but did not fare so well in the second when the 49ers got a 3-run home run to take an early 3-0 edge in the game.
In the third, Long Beach State plated two more with a one-out double, prompting senior Nicole Bond to enter the circle in relief. The fifth-year senior got an infield pop-up and a strikeout to strand her inherited runner.
Sammy Nettling recorded the first Wildcats' hit of the game to start the bottom of the third. NU eventually got a pair of runners aboard when Marissa Panko drew a two-out walk, but a fly ball tracked down in left-center field ended the threat.
The 49ers made it a 7-0 lead over the Wildcats with a two-run fourth, and Northwestern attempted to respond with a Morgan Nelson walk and a Lily Novak single in the bottom half, but again LBSU was able to keep NU off the board.
Long Beach State pushed the game into run-rule territory with a two-out, two-run double in the top of the sixth. In the bottom half, Novak ripped a two-out double but that was the extent of NU's comeback attempt in the frame.
Wilkey (2-1) took the loss, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Bond pitched the rest of the game, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks with two Ks.
Novak was a perfect 2-for-2 in the game with a walk.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Meza, Cielo (6-0)
L: Wilkey, Kenna (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Wren, Jamie 1 ; Flores, Jessica 1
HR: MacLeod, Lauren 1
RBI: Hernandez, Naomi 1 ; Wren, Jamie 2 ; Flores, Jessica 2 ; MacLeod, Lauren 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Fry, Nichole 1 ; Hutton, Kasey 1 ; Guzman, Andrea 1 ; Lombardi, Julia 1 ; Wren, Jamie 1 ; Flores, Jessica 1 ; Majam, Grayce 1 ; MacLeod, Lauren 1 ; Tiger, Taylor 1
Batting:
2B: Novak, Lily 1
Base Running:
SB: Rabin, Sabrina 1
Game Leaders
AB
2
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ Softball
IF/C
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
P
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