Friday, March 9

Houston, Texas

3 p.m. CT

Northwestern

12-8

Penn State

1-13

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northwestern	1	0	3	0	0	9	13	11	0
Penn State	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0

Northwestern Pounces On Penn State For 13-0 (6) Victory

3/9/2018 5:20:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

HOUSTON – Northwestern plated nine runs in the sixth inning and Kenna Wilkey tossed a three-hit shutout to lead the Wildcats to a 13-0 (6) run-rule victory over Penn State in a non-conference contest Friday at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic.

Northwestern now is 12-8 on the season and 2-0 at the tournament while Penn State is 1-13 on the year, 0-1 in the event. The game was a non-conference contest between the two programs, which are not scheduled to meet during the B1G regular season in 2018.

Northwestern returns to the field at the Houston Hilton Plaza Classic for two games tomorrow, beginning at 11:30 a.m. CT with a re-match against Penn State before NU takes on Houston at 4:30 p.m.

Lest the gaudy run total in this one overshadow the efforts in the circle, we should point out that Wilkey's shutout marked the third-consecutive thrown by Wildcats pitching. Earlier in the day, Morgan Newport chucked a two-hit shutout of Iowa State, and that came on the heels of a four-hit blanking of No. 11 Alabama on Sunday in Seattle. NU 's three shutouts in a row are a first since blanking Cal State Bakersfield, Saint Joseph's and Boston in a three-game stretch in 2013.

After waiting until the bottom of the seventh to score in Friday's first game against Iowa State, the Wildcats waited not to score in the nightcap. Sabrina Rabin led off the game with an infield single, and found herself on third one out later. Rachel Lewis joined her on base via a fielder's choice grounder, then a slow-rolling two-out single from Lily Novak allowed Rabin to score and give NU a 1-0 advantage.

Penn State put together a pair of early two-out rallies against Northwestern starter Wilkey, getting two on with two out in the first and loading the bases with two out in the second. Each time Wilkey was able to escape to keep the Nittany Lions off the board.

In the top of the third, junior Morgan Nelson deposited a solo home run over the wall in right center to double the Wildcats lead to 2-0.

The inning continued with a Novak walk and a Brooke Marquez single before Sammy Nettling moved both up a bag with a productive groundout. Then, with two outs, Newport stroked a single into left that brought 'em both around for a 4-0 Northwestern advantage heading into the bottom half.

After a 1-2-3 bottom of the third for Wilkey, Penn State inserted Jessica Cummings into the circle in favor of the starter Madison Shaffer, and Cummings handled the #B1GCats well.

In the top of the sixth, however, things went sideways…in a good way for the Wildcats. Newport led off with her third single of the contest and gave way to pinch runner Abbey Boyd. Boyd stole second, and with one out and the top of the order due for NU, Penn State opted to change pitchers again, this time sending Ashton Mesinger to the circle.

Mesinger hit Marissa Panko with a one-out pitch, then Lewis touched up Mesigner for a three-run opposite field DINGER before Nelson made it back-to-back jacks for the #B1GCats, pushing the game into run-rule territory with her second solo shot of the game.

First-year Lewis now has a team-best four home runs on the season, while Nelson has three on the year and 13 for her career.

Penn State inserted its fourth hurler into the game after the blasts, and she proceeded to hit three batters and walk four to force pinch runner and Houston native Maegan Hollins across the plate as well as three more Wildcats. With eight runs on the board in the inning and a 12-0 lead for NU, Penn State re-entered their starter into the circle. One passed ball later, the final score of 13-0 had been achieved after an incredible nine-run sixth-inning rally.

Wilkey closed the door in the sixth with a perfect inning, giving her a streak of 13-consecutive batters retired to end the contest.

Wilkey (4-3) allowed all three base hits with two outs in the second inning, and otherwise allowed no hits at all in throwing her second-career shutout. She walked one and fanned three in the game.

Newport led Northwestern at the plate with a 3-for-3 day, driving in a pair. Nelson had the two solo home runs, Lewis drove in three with her blast, Rabin finished 2-for-4 and Marquez collected two hits and two runs.

Of special note is Boyd, who entered as a pinch runner early in the sixth and managed to score two runs and drive in a run in just one inning of play.

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March 28, 2023, Chicago, IL: A game between Northwestern Softball and DePaul University at Cacciatore Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, Tuesday, March 28, 2023. (Photo by Ryan Kuttler/Northwestern Athletics)

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Saturday, April 04

Wildcats Host Michigan for Weekend Series in Rosemont

Thursday, April 02

Wildcats Drop Series to No. 17 Oregon

Saturday, March 28

Next Event

Penn State

W, 6-4

Mar 10 (Sat)

11:30 a.m. CT

Box Score Recap Live stats History

Full Schedule

Team Stats

Pitching:

W: Wilkey, Kenna (4-3)

L: Madison Shaffer (0-6)

Northwestern

Batting:

HR: Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 2

RBI: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Panko, Marissa 1 ; Lewis, Rachel 3 ; Nelson, Morgan 2 ; Novak, Lily 1 ; Newport, Morgan 2 ; Boyd, Abbey 1 ; Wilkey, Kenna 1

SH: Dunlap, Mac 1

Base Running:

RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Panko, Marissa 1 ; Lewis, Rachel 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 2 ; Novak, Lily 1 ; Hollins, Maegan 1 ; Marquez, Brooke 2 ; Stees, Eva 1 ; Boyd, Abbey 2 ; Wilkey, Kenna 1