Saturday, March 17
Bloomington, IN
2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET
Northwestern
17-8
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Indiana
6-20
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Northwestern
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Indiana
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Northwestern Slams Indiana For Eighth-Straight Win, 9-2
3/17/2018 5:32:00 PM | Softball
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Northwestern crushed three home runs including a Morgan Nelson grand slam Saturday to defeat Indiana in a non-conference game at the Hoosier Classic at Andy Mohr Field, 9-2.
Northwestern's active winning streak now is eight games, its longest since winning eight in a row at the end of the 2012 season -- including a pair of victories at the 2012 NCAA Austin Regional. The Wildcats are 17-8 overall in 2018. Indiana falls to 6-20 on the year with its loss Saturday.
NU and Indiana previously met February 10 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona, where the Wildcats broke up a perfect game late to eventually pull away for a 5-1 victory. Along with two non-con games against IU, Northwestern played two non-conference games versus Penn State last weekend at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic, giving it four out-of-conference contests against B1G foes this year.
But all of that is done now! Northwestern now returns home to open the conference season at Sharon J. Drysdale Field March 23-25 against Minnesota.
BUY YOUR NORTHWESTERN TICKETS AND SEASON PASSES HERE!
Northwestern had the game's first serious threat in the top of the second when Nelson crushed a leadoff triple to the fence in right-center field for the Wildcats. After a shallow fly out, Brooke Marquez earned a one-out walk and gave way to pinch runner Emma Bartz, who stole second base. Indiana ace Tara Trainer bore down, however, and struck out the next two Wildcats to end the inning.
The Wildcats DID break through in the top of third thanks to their extreme patience. Kenna Wilkey began the rally with a walk, giving way to the flexing Mac Dunlap on the base paths. Sabrina Rabin singled and Marissa Panko walked to load the bases, then Trainer walked Big Ten RBI leader Rachel Lewis to force in Dunlap and stake the Wildcats to the lead. Indiana elected to lift Trainer in favor of Emily Goodin, who quickly retired the next two 'Cats to the plate before issuing Marquez's second walk of the game, pushing Rabin home for a 2-0 NU lead headed to the bottom half of the frame.
While Newport kept Indiana's batters off balance, Northwestern tacked a run onto its lead in the top of the fifth. Lewis was hit by a pitch to start the frame, moved to second on a passed ball and stole third. One out later, Lily Novak grounded to shortstop and the throw home to get a streaking Lewis was wide, giving the Wildcats a 3-0 edge.
Indiana notched its third hit of the ballgame with a two-out double in the fifth inning, and how did Newport respond? By fanning the leadoff Hoosier in the order, Gabbi Jenkins -- who had the other two Indiana hits to that point -- to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Wildcats broke the game wide open. Sammy Nettling opened the frame with a solid single into center for her second hit of the game, then gave way to pinch runner Abbey Boyd. Though Boyd was erased on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Rabin for the second out of the inning, the rally continued with a Panko single and a Lewis walk to load the bases. Nelson followed with a towering drive to left-center field that fought the wind the entire way before eventually falling just over the fence for a grand slam and a 7-0 Northwestern lead.
The home run was Nelson's fourth of the season and the 14th of her career. It was her third grand slam; she has had one in each year of her Wildcats career so far.
Indiana found the scoreboard with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, but Newport limited the damage to that single run. During the inning, she fanned her season-high sixth batter of the contest.
Northwestern answered back in the top of the seventh against the third Indiana pitcher of the game, Emily Kirk. Marquez led off the inning with a solo home run off the top of the fence in right, then with two outs, Wilkey lined a solo homer of her own out of the park to nearly the same spot, making it a 9-1 contest.
For Marquez, it was her first home run of the season and the fifth of her career, but the first she's clobbered since her sophomore season of 2016. Wilkey's laser was the third of the season for the first-year.
Indiana added one more run on a two-out single in the seventh before Newport shut the door for the complete-game victory. She moved to 7-2 on the season, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with six Ks.
Nelson finished 2-for-4 in the game with a triple and a grand slam, driving in four. Rabin had two hits and two runs while Nettling and Panko each had two hits apiece. Lewis did not record a hit in the game but had two runs, a steal and an RBI.
Northwestern's active winning streak now is eight games, its longest since winning eight in a row at the end of the 2012 season -- including a pair of victories at the 2012 NCAA Austin Regional. The Wildcats are 17-8 overall in 2018. Indiana falls to 6-20 on the year with its loss Saturday.
NU and Indiana previously met February 10 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona, where the Wildcats broke up a perfect game late to eventually pull away for a 5-1 victory. Along with two non-con games against IU, Northwestern played two non-conference games versus Penn State last weekend at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic, giving it four out-of-conference contests against B1G foes this year.
But all of that is done now! Northwestern now returns home to open the conference season at Sharon J. Drysdale Field March 23-25 against Minnesota.
BUY YOUR NORTHWESTERN TICKETS AND SEASON PASSES HERE!
Northwestern had the game's first serious threat in the top of the second when Nelson crushed a leadoff triple to the fence in right-center field for the Wildcats. After a shallow fly out, Brooke Marquez earned a one-out walk and gave way to pinch runner Emma Bartz, who stole second base. Indiana ace Tara Trainer bore down, however, and struck out the next two Wildcats to end the inning.
The Wildcats DID break through in the top of third thanks to their extreme patience. Kenna Wilkey began the rally with a walk, giving way to the flexing Mac Dunlap on the base paths. Sabrina Rabin singled and Marissa Panko walked to load the bases, then Trainer walked Big Ten RBI leader Rachel Lewis to force in Dunlap and stake the Wildcats to the lead. Indiana elected to lift Trainer in favor of Emily Goodin, who quickly retired the next two 'Cats to the plate before issuing Marquez's second walk of the game, pushing Rabin home for a 2-0 NU lead headed to the bottom half of the frame.
While Newport kept Indiana's batters off balance, Northwestern tacked a run onto its lead in the top of the fifth. Lewis was hit by a pitch to start the frame, moved to second on a passed ball and stole third. One out later, Lily Novak grounded to shortstop and the throw home to get a streaking Lewis was wide, giving the Wildcats a 3-0 edge.
Indiana notched its third hit of the ballgame with a two-out double in the fifth inning, and how did Newport respond? By fanning the leadoff Hoosier in the order, Gabbi Jenkins -- who had the other two Indiana hits to that point -- to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Wildcats broke the game wide open. Sammy Nettling opened the frame with a solid single into center for her second hit of the game, then gave way to pinch runner Abbey Boyd. Though Boyd was erased on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Rabin for the second out of the inning, the rally continued with a Panko single and a Lewis walk to load the bases. Nelson followed with a towering drive to left-center field that fought the wind the entire way before eventually falling just over the fence for a grand slam and a 7-0 Northwestern lead.
The home run was Nelson's fourth of the season and the 14th of her career. It was her third grand slam; she has had one in each year of her Wildcats career so far.
Indiana found the scoreboard with an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, but Newport limited the damage to that single run. During the inning, she fanned her season-high sixth batter of the contest.
Northwestern answered back in the top of the seventh against the third Indiana pitcher of the game, Emily Kirk. Marquez led off the inning with a solo home run off the top of the fence in right, then with two outs, Wilkey lined a solo homer of her own out of the park to nearly the same spot, making it a 9-1 contest.
For Marquez, it was her first home run of the season and the fifth of her career, but the first she's clobbered since her sophomore season of 2016. Wilkey's laser was the third of the season for the first-year.
Indiana added one more run on a two-out single in the seventh before Newport shut the door for the complete-game victory. She moved to 7-2 on the season, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with six Ks.
Nelson finished 2-for-4 in the game with a triple and a grand slam, driving in four. Rabin had two hits and two runs while Nettling and Panko each had two hits apiece. Lewis did not record a hit in the game but had two runs, a steal and an RBI.
••••••
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Newport, Morgan (7-2)
L: Tara Trainer (3-11)
Batting:
2B: Nettling, Sammy 1
3B: Nelson, Morgan 1
HR: Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Marquez, Brooke 1 ; Wilkey, Kenna 1
RBI: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 4 ; Novak, Lily 1 ; Marquez, Brooke 2 ; Wilkey, Kenna 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 2 ; Panko, Marissa 1 ; Lewis, Rachel 2 ; Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Marquez, Brooke 1 ; Wilkey, Kenna 1 ; Dunlap, Mac 1
SB: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Bartz, Emma 1
HBP: Lewis, Rachel 1
Batting:
2B: Maddie Westmoreland 1 ; Rachel O'Malley 1 ; Makayla Ferrari 1
RBI: Gabbi Jenkins 1 ; Maddie Westmoreland 1
SH: Rebecca Blitz 1 ; Makayla Ferrari 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sarah Galovich 1 ; Rachel O'Malley 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
4
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF/C
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
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