Friday, February 22
Cathedral City, Calif.
8:30 p.m. CT/6:30 p.m. PT
Northwestern
9-2
6
vs
5
Duke
5-7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
R
H
E
Duke
1
0
2
0
0
2
0
0
5
5
2
Northwestern
3
0
0
0
2
0
0
1
6
8
2
Williams the Walk-Off Hero as 'Cats Knock Off Duke, 6-5, in Extra Innings
2/22/2019 11:40:00 PM | Softball
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Northwestern walked-off Duke in extra innings, 6-5, behind a Danielle Williams walk-off single at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday night.
Williams singled to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs to score Morgan Newport from third base. In doing so, she also secured the win for herself as a pitcher, throwing the final two scoreless innings while facing the minimum number of batters.
Williams, a first-year, picked up her second win of the day after throwing a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in game one on Friday against BYU. She now holds an 8-0 record to start the season.
The Wildcats improved to 9-2 with the win over Duke and are 2-0 so far in Cathedral City this weekend.
Junior Morgan Newport, who scored the game-winning run, also had an excellent day behind the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Newport started the game in the circle and threw 3.0 innings while allowing just one earned run and notching two strikeouts.
Sophomore Kenna Wilkey pitched 3.0 innings for the 'Cats as well, tallying three strikeouts and allowing just two hits in relief.
Senior Morgan Nelson also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Maeve Nelson and Skyler Shellmyer each chipped in with a hit as well.
Northwestern's nine wins through the team's first 11 games of the season is its most since 1987, when the Wildcats started 12-2. The 1987 team eventually finished 43-13 and took home first place in the Big Ten.
The 'Cats trailed 1-0 after the very first half inning, but rallied back immediately with a Newport single that scored Jordyn Rudd to tie things up at 1-1. Maeve Nelson followed that up with a double to right field to bring home Nikki Cuchran and Newport, giving the 'Cats an early 3-1 lead.
Duke tied things up in the third, but Northwestern showed their resilience once more in the fifth. The 'Cats put two runners on and Newport delivered once more with another single for two more runs to make it 5-3.
The Blue Devils found two more runs in the top of the sixth to the tie game up once again but Williams came in and pitched a clean top of the seventh to leave things knotted at 5-5. Williams returned for the top of the eighth with a runner on second to start the inning, and shut the door with two strikeouts to leave herself in line for a potential win.
Maeve Nelson started the final frame with a bunt to move Newport from second to third. Two batters later, Williams knocked in the winning run to continue one of the most impressive individual starts to the season out of any player in the country.
The #B1GCats continue action at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with two more games tomorrow. They are set to face Utah at 11:30 a.m. CT and Long Beach State at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed online at FloSoftball ($) and @NUSBCats will have live updates on Twitter.
Williams singled to left field in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs to score Morgan Newport from third base. In doing so, she also secured the win for herself as a pitcher, throwing the final two scoreless innings while facing the minimum number of batters.
Williams, a first-year, picked up her second win of the day after throwing a one-hit shutout with nine strikeouts in game one on Friday against BYU. She now holds an 8-0 record to start the season.
The Wildcats improved to 9-2 with the win over Duke and are 2-0 so far in Cathedral City this weekend.
Junior Morgan Newport, who scored the game-winning run, also had an excellent day behind the plate, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. Newport started the game in the circle and threw 3.0 innings while allowing just one earned run and notching two strikeouts.
Sophomore Kenna Wilkey pitched 3.0 innings for the 'Cats as well, tallying three strikeouts and allowing just two hits in relief.
Senior Morgan Nelson also had a multi-hit day, going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Maeve Nelson and Skyler Shellmyer each chipped in with a hit as well.
Northwestern's nine wins through the team's first 11 games of the season is its most since 1987, when the Wildcats started 12-2. The 1987 team eventually finished 43-13 and took home first place in the Big Ten.
The 'Cats trailed 1-0 after the very first half inning, but rallied back immediately with a Newport single that scored Jordyn Rudd to tie things up at 1-1. Maeve Nelson followed that up with a double to right field to bring home Nikki Cuchran and Newport, giving the 'Cats an early 3-1 lead.
Duke tied things up in the third, but Northwestern showed their resilience once more in the fifth. The 'Cats put two runners on and Newport delivered once more with another single for two more runs to make it 5-3.
The Blue Devils found two more runs in the top of the sixth to the tie game up once again but Williams came in and pitched a clean top of the seventh to leave things knotted at 5-5. Williams returned for the top of the eighth with a runner on second to start the inning, and shut the door with two strikeouts to leave herself in line for a potential win.
Maeve Nelson started the final frame with a bunt to move Newport from second to third. Two batters later, Williams knocked in the winning run to continue one of the most impressive individual starts to the season out of any player in the country.
The #B1GCats continue action at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with two more games tomorrow. They are set to face Utah at 11:30 a.m. CT and Long Beach State at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed online at FloSoftball ($) and @NUSBCats will have live updates on Twitter.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Williams, Danielle (8-0)
L: Peyton St. George (1-1)
Batting:
HR: Raine Wilson 1
RBI: Raine Wilson 1 ; Kristina Foreman 1
SH: Haley Wymbs 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Raine Wilson 1 ; Jameson Kavel 1 ; Caroline Jacobsen 1 ; Kyla Morris 1 ; Marissa Gagliano 1
HBP: Reilly Metzger 1
Batting:
2B: Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Nelson, Maeve 1 ; Shellmyer, Skyler 1
RBI: Newport, Morgan 3 ; Nelson, Maeve 2 ; Williams, Danielle 1
SH: Nelson, Maeve 1 ; Shellmyer, Skyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Nelson, Morgan 1 ; Rudd, Jordyn 1 ; Cuchran, Nikki 1 ; Stees, Eva 1 ; Newport, Morgan 2
HBP: Novak, Lily 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
p/rf
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
3
AB
4
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
IF
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballIF/C
/ SoftballP/U
/ SoftballC/U
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
P/U
/ SoftballSoftball - Lauren Boyd Tosses Complete Game Shutout, 'Cats Blank Kentucky in NCAA Regional (5/16/25)
Friday, May 16
Softball - 'Cats Storm Back, Secure Series Victory at No. 8 UCLA (5/4/25)
Sunday, May 04
Softball - 'Cats Earn 8-0 Run-Rule Win at No. 8 UCLA (5/2/25)
Saturday, May 03
Softball - Kaylie Avvisato Hits Walk-Off Home Run, 'Cats Take Series vs. Wisconsin (4/27/25)
Sunday, April 27
