Feb. 17, 2002
POWAY, Calif. - Northwestern softball wrapped up the weekend tournament in San Diego with a 7-7 tie against host San Diego State, Sunday morning. The game was called after the completion of the seventh inning due to heavy rain. The Wildcats finish the weekend 2-2-1 and are now 4-5-1 overall.
NU once again had a tough time hanging on to a lead in the late innings as it let the Aztecs score two in the top half of the seventh to deadlock the game at 7-7.
The `Cats took advantage of five walks, two wild pitches and an error by the Atzecs in the first to score three early.
SDSU came back with one in the second and then added three more in the third to take a 4-3 lead, but NU regained the lead with two runs on three hits in the bottom half of the inning. J.C. Kira, who was 7-for-16 (.438) on the weekend, singled in Gretchen Barnes then came around to score on Lauren Schwendimann's pinch-hit single.
With the game even at 5-5 in the fifth, Robyn Pettinger took a Jessi Green offering over the right field fence to put the `Cats up 7-5. The home run was Pettinger's second of the weekend. The junior was 8-for-20 in the tournament with nine RBI.
The lead held until the seventh. With the rain falling harder, the Atzecs scored two runs on three hits and three NU wild pitches. The `Cats were unable to score in the bottom half of the innings and the game was then called due to the weather.
In the five games, NU batted an impressive .333 as a team, scoring 37 runs on 53 hits. Leading the offense was Barnes, who was 10-for-18 (.556) with 9 RBI and eight runs scored, including back-to-back home runs against Sacramento State.
NU will take next weekend off as they prepare for a three-day tournament in Louisville begining March 1-3.
Stanford captured the tourney title for the second time in the past three years. The Cardinals were awarded the trophy in a runs-allowed tiebreak with Pacific (6 to 8, respectively) as both teams finished atop the standings with 4-0 records.
The Morning Games Played:
Northwestern 7, San Diego State 7 (7 inn.)
Florida International 7, UC Santa Barbara 2
Michigan 9, Pittsburgh 0 (5 inn.)
The Cancelled Games:
Fresno State vs. Utah State
San Diego State vs. Pacific
Cal State Northridge vs. Loyola Marymount
Cal State Fullerton vs. New Mexico
Sacramento State vs. Loyola Marymount
Stanford vs. New Mexico
FINAL STANDINGS | |||
| TEAM | W | L | T |
| Stanford | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Michigan | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Fresno State | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Cal State Northridge | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Northwestern | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| San Diego State | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Florida International | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Loyola Marymount | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Sacramento State | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Utah State | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 0 | 5 | 0 |