Arizona improves to 11-2 on the season with its win while Northwestern now is 3-7 on the year after the loss. The Wildcats return to action immediately at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic against Syracuse.
With both teams combining for six base runners but no hits through the first two innings of play, Arizona got the game's first hits and runs in the top of the third to take a 3-0 lead in the game against NU and its starter Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union). In the top of the fourth, the Pac-12 Wildcats forced a run across with the bases loaded and no outs to take a 4-0 advantage, leading to Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) taking over in the circle. Letourneau limited the further damage to just one more run on a sacrifice fly to make it a 5-0 game heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Northwestern struck back in the bottom of the fourth -- ALL the way back. The inning began with three-straight balls from Arizona starter Trish Parks, then the AZ coaching staff stopped the game to have the circle attended to by the grounds crew. Parks then threw five more balls in a row to issue leadoff walks to Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) and Olivia Duehr (Antioch, Ill./Antioch).
Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) followed with an RBI single to right, then Brianna LeBeau (Worth, Ill./H.L. Richards) first-pitch hacked a single through the infield to plate Duehr and cut NU's deficit to 5-2. Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) moved both Kuhn and LeBeau up a bag with a sacrifice bunt, which became key when Caylor Arnold (Mt. Gilead, Ohio/Mt. Gilead) put an RBI groundout into play to bring another run across the plate. The rally continued when freshman Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) smacked a two-out single through the middle to make the score 5-4 and knock Parks from the circle in favor of Nancy Bowling for Arizona.
Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) greeted Bowling with a high fly ball to left field that fell just fair for a game-tying double, capping NU's five-run, game-tying outburst in the fourth.
Letourneau kept an Arizona leadoff single at bay in the top of the fifth before the Pac-12 Wildcats sent Siera Phillips to the circle as their third pitcher of the game. Filler promptly rocked a single into center to begin the inning, and Duehr sacrificed her to second. With two outs, LeBeau sent a fly ball into the outfield where it was caught on the run to keep the game tied heading into the sixth inning.
Arizona re-took the lead in the top of the sixth. The two leadoff batters each reached on a walk before, after a successful sacrifice bunt, an error on the infield allowed one run to come in. The trail runner also tried to score on the play but was thrown out to keep NU's deficit at one run, 6-5.
The Pac-12 Wildcats sent their fourth pitcher of the game, Michelle Floyd, to the circle to begin the bottom of the sixth, and Northwestern did not treat her much better than her cavalcade of teammates. With one out, pinch hitter Alcy Bush (Riverside, Calif./Martin Luther King) drew a walk and was replaced by pinch runner Fran Strub (Coralville, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana). With two outs, a wild pitch moved Strub to second before DiPrima doubled for the second time in the game, this one off the fence to knot the score once again, 6-6.
DiPrima's two doubles in the game were the 31st and 32nd of her career, moving her into 10th place on Northwestern's career list all by herself.
In the top of the seventh, Arizona got a leadoff double down the left-field line with one out. Letourneau coaxed a foul out to Edwards at third for the second out, but a wild pitch allowed that runner to score to give AZ a 7-6 lead. The very next pitch of the frame ended the inning. Northwestern did not have another comeback in it, though, going down in order in the seventh.
DiPrima led NU at the plate with her two doubles and two RBIs.
Wood went 3+ innings in her start, allowing five runs on five hits and eight walks with three strikeouts. Letourneau (1-5) took the loss, allowing two runs on two hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 4.0 innings of relief.
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