Wildcats Fly Past Louisville 4-3, Win Evanston Regional

Sunday, May 19

6:15 pm CT

Northwestern

47-11

Louisville

35-23

Louisville

Northwestern

Wildcats Fly Past Louisville 4-3, Win Evanston Regional

5/19/2019 8:34:00 PM | Softball

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Northwestern wins eighth regional in program history behind Danielle Williams Gem

A pair of two run innings and a Danielle Williams gem were all it took for Northwestern to win their eighth regional in program history with a 4-3 victory over the Louisville Cardinals.

Northwestern beat Louisville twice in a row to win the regional, with Williams throwing 13 innings between the two games. The Wildcats advance to the Norman Super Regional next week, where they'll face No. 1 Oklahoma for a spot in the College World Series. The Super Regional begins Thursday, May 23.

Nikki Cuchran led the Wildcat bats with a pair of singles and a pair of RBI, capping a weekend where she went 7-19 in five games.

Williams opened the game with four no-hit innings, continuing her lights-out weekend. The first-year bossed Louisville around, allowing just two runs on four hits, racking up six strikeouts. throughout the weekend, Williams threw 23 innings, allowing just 10 hits and four earned runs, while striking out 32.

After three innings of no-hit ball for each team, the Wildcat took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Wildcats had runners on second and third after Cuchran lined the first hit of the game past second base. Morgan Newport deposited a line into deep center, bringing both runners home for a 2-0 lead.

Louisville struck right back in the fifth, scoring both on a wild pitch on a strikeout and an infield single to tie the game. With two outs, the bases loaded and the Cardinals nearing a breakthrough, Williams got her fifth strikeout of the game to wiggle out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.

Northwestern scratched right back in the bottom of the fifth. With Skyler Shellmeyer on second, Morgan Nelson launched a ball down the left field line, the potential-two-run-shot bending just foul. Nelson reached on a hit-by-pitch, Maeve Nelson loaded the bases with a walk. Cuchran continued her great day sending another line up the middle to plate two more for a 4-2 lead.

The hits kept coming in the sixth, with Louisville getting their first two batters on. Then, on a would be single to left, Morgan Nelson threw out a runner at third for the first out of the inning, before a strikeout and a pop fly ended the frame.

Louisville opened the seventh with a triple into right field, scoring and bringing the game within a run on a groundout. But Williams held firm, getting a fly to right and a grounder to third to finish the game 4-3.

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