Saturday, March 10
Houston, TX
4:30 p.m. CT
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Houston
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Photo by: Jim Hilton
Rachel Lewis Seventh-Inning Homer Gives NU 5-4 Win At Houston
3/10/2018 6:53:00 PM | Softball
HOUSTON – Rachel Lewis broke a seventh-inning tie with a solo home run and Northwestern topped Houston, 5-4, Saturday night at the Hilton Plaza Classic to run the Wildcats record at the event to a perfect 4-0.
Northwestern improves to 14-8 overall on the season while Houston falls to 13-6 with its loss. NU's overall winning streak stands at five games after the Wildcats entered the weekend of a shutout of No. 11 Alabama last Sunday.
NU concludes is Houston Hilton Plaza Classic schedule at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow against Lipscomb.
Northwestern nearly found the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second. With one out, Morgan Newport doubled before Sammy Nettling shot a single into right field. Newport came motoring around third but the throw from right was on target enough and the catcher was positioned on top of the plate enough that she was tagged out.
The Wildcats made up for it one inning later, scoring in much the same manner. With two outs, Lewis doubled before Morgan Nelson singled. Houston made an error on the play, allowing Lewis to race home and give NU the first lead, 1-0.
In the top of the fourth, Brooke Marquez singled to start the inning and gave way to pinch runner Abbey Boyd. Newport did not make Boyd run very hard, sending her around to the plate with a two-run home run – the first home run of Newport's career.
After the blast, Northwestern wasn't done in the inning. Nettling followed the home run with a double, but was erased on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Sabrina Rabin. The speedy senior saw to it to manufacture another run for the 'Cats, stealing second and then coming home when the Cougars made an error on a Marissa Panko ground ball, staking the Wildcats to a 4-0 lead.
Houston battled back with a leadoff solo home run in the fourth, then hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth to tie the score, 4-4. At that point in the game, Kenna Wilkey entered the circle in relief of NU's starter Newport and ended the inning with no further Cougars runs across.
The score remained tied heading into the top of the seventh, and it took just one swing for Lewis to un-tie it. With a crushing blow, she delivered a solo home run deep over the wall in left to put Northwestern back out in front, 5-4.
It was Lewis' team-leading fifth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the seventh, Houston attempted one last rally. The first batter to the plate in the frame was hit by a pitch, then the Cougars drew a two-out walk. Wilkey was able to coax a weak grounder to Panko at short, however, to end the game.
Wilkey (6-3) picked up her third win on the weekend, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and one walk with a strikeout. In the tournament, Wilkey has thrown 14.2 total scoreless innings across three appearances including a complete-game shutout, and has held her opponents to just a .102 batting average.
Newport tossed 4.1 frames in the start, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Both Lewis and Newport had two hits apiece: a double and a home run. Nelson and Nettling also recorded a pair of base knocks. Lewis scored twice and Newport drove in two.
Northwestern improves to 14-8 overall on the season while Houston falls to 13-6 with its loss. NU's overall winning streak stands at five games after the Wildcats entered the weekend of a shutout of No. 11 Alabama last Sunday.
NU concludes is Houston Hilton Plaza Classic schedule at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow against Lipscomb.
Northwestern nearly found the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second. With one out, Morgan Newport doubled before Sammy Nettling shot a single into right field. Newport came motoring around third but the throw from right was on target enough and the catcher was positioned on top of the plate enough that she was tagged out.
The Wildcats made up for it one inning later, scoring in much the same manner. With two outs, Lewis doubled before Morgan Nelson singled. Houston made an error on the play, allowing Lewis to race home and give NU the first lead, 1-0.
In the top of the fourth, Brooke Marquez singled to start the inning and gave way to pinch runner Abbey Boyd. Newport did not make Boyd run very hard, sending her around to the plate with a two-run home run – the first home run of Newport's career.
After the blast, Northwestern wasn't done in the inning. Nettling followed the home run with a double, but was erased on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Sabrina Rabin. The speedy senior saw to it to manufacture another run for the 'Cats, stealing second and then coming home when the Cougars made an error on a Marissa Panko ground ball, staking the Wildcats to a 4-0 lead.
Houston battled back with a leadoff solo home run in the fourth, then hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth to tie the score, 4-4. At that point in the game, Kenna Wilkey entered the circle in relief of NU's starter Newport and ended the inning with no further Cougars runs across.
The score remained tied heading into the top of the seventh, and it took just one swing for Lewis to un-tie it. With a crushing blow, she delivered a solo home run deep over the wall in left to put Northwestern back out in front, 5-4.
It was Lewis' team-leading fifth home run of the season.
In the bottom of the seventh, Houston attempted one last rally. The first batter to the plate in the frame was hit by a pitch, then the Cougars drew a two-out walk. Wilkey was able to coax a weak grounder to Panko at short, however, to end the game.
Wilkey (6-3) picked up her third win on the weekend, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits and one walk with a strikeout. In the tournament, Wilkey has thrown 14.2 total scoreless innings across three appearances including a complete-game shutout, and has held her opponents to just a .102 batting average.
Newport tossed 4.1 frames in the start, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
Both Lewis and Newport had two hits apiece: a double and a home run. Nelson and Nettling also recorded a pair of base knocks. Lewis scored twice and Newport drove in two.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wilkey, Kenna (6-3)
L: Melancon, Trystan (4-3)
Batting:
2B: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Newport, Morgan 1 ; Nettling, Sammy 1
HR: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Newport, Morgan 1
RBI: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Newport, Morgan 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Lewis, Rachel 2 ; Boyd, Abbey 1 ; Newport, Morgan 1
SB: Rabin, Sabrina 1
Batting:
HR: Crumpton, Kaylin 1 ; Queen, Sarah 2
RBI: Crumpton, Kaylin 2 ; Queen, Sarah 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Thomas, Maya 1 ; Crumpton, Kaylin 1 ; Queen, Sarah 2
HBP: Crumpton, Kaylin 2
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF/C
/ SoftballC
/ SoftballP/U
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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