Kenna Wilkey And The Wildcats Shut Out Vikings, 6-0

3/2/2018 5:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

SEATTLE – First-year Kenna Wilkey threw her first-career shutout Friday afternoon to lead Northwestern to a 6-0 win over Portland State in the Wildcats Husky Classic opener.

Northwestern improves to 8-6 overall on the season with its victory while Portland State falls to 2-9 on the year.

Northwestern is back in action tonight at 8 p.m. CT/6 p.m. PT against top-ranked and tournament host Washington.

Wilkey needed just 84 pitches to complete 7.0 innings and move to 3-2 on the season. She defined scattering base hits, allowing five in the game with all of them coming in different innings. Wilkey walked none and struck out five.

Both teams had base runners thrown out attempting to steal in the first inning before senior Sabrina Rabin struck an early big blow in favor of the 'Cats in the second. That rally started with a Lily Novak walk, a Brooke Marquez single and a Wilkey fielder's choice grounder in which everyone was safe to load the bases with nobody out. Portland State's pitcher was able strike out the next two batters, but not Rabin, who smoked a triple all the way to the wall in left-center field for a 3-0 NU lead.

The Vikings hit Marissa Panko with the very next pitch, and Panko danced her way between first and second long enough during the ensuing Rachel Lewis at-bat that Rabin was able to race home for a 4-0 Northwestern edge.

After a brief intermission of not scoring, Northwestern resumed scoring in the bottom of the fifth. Rabin reached base on an error by the shortstop to start the frame before, one out later, coming all the way home from first on a Lewis double to the base of the wall in left. A two-out error would eventually bring Lewis across, as well, to make it a 6-0 game heading into the sixth.

Rabin reached base in all four of her plate appearances in the contest, ending up 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored as the catalyst atop the NU lineup.