LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Junior Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) tossed the third no-hitter of her career and her first of 2015 Sunday morning in Northwestern's first game of the Louisville Softball Classic, leading the Wildcats to a 13-0 (5) win over Ball State.
Wood needed just 71 pitches to complete the gem in which she faced just one over the minimum. In the first inning, the second Cardinal to the plate walked but then was called out for leaving first base early. The next Cardinal to reach base did not do so until there was one out in the fifth, and she did not stray from first. Wood fanned nine Cardinals, including six in a row from the third to the fifth innings.
Last season, Wood had no hitters against LIU Brooklyn and Loyola (Chicago), with each of those games lasting five innings as well. The no-no was the 49th in Northwestern history, which leads all Big Ten programs.
Northwestern now is 8-10 on the year with its win while Ball State falls to 10-12 with its loss. NU returns to action immediately against its host, Louisville.
The Wildcats wasted little time jumping on the Cardinals for a pair of runs in the top of the first. Freshman Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) sprinted out a leadoff single and stole second, then came around to score on a one-out double from junior Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger). Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) followed with a sharp ground ball to second that went five hole on the Cardinals defender to allow Filler to scamper around for a 2-0 lead.
Northwestern really poured on the pressure in the second inning, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six runs, beginning with an Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) single up the middle. Freshman Sammy Nettling (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon del Oro) -- making her first career start at catcher -- followed with a four-pitch walk in her first-career plate appearance before Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) singled on the infield on a play that allowed Edwards to score the first run of the frame.
Rabin was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs, then Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) began the RBI parade with a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Filler followed with her second double of the game to bring two more Wildcats home before Letourneau smashed a run-scoring double of her own to make the score 8-0. At that point, Ball State lifted starting pitcher Nicole Steinbach in favor of Carolyn Wilmes, who was able to finally quell the NU uprising.
In the top of the third, NU loaded the bases when Rabin and DiPrima each reached with one-out singles for their second hits of the contest before Filler walked to load the bases. Though Ball State retired the next Wildcat to the plate with no damage done, Brianna LeBeau (Worth, Ill./H.L. Richards) followed with a two-run single to right to give NU a double-digit edge, 10-0.
After a scoreless fourth, Northwestern put the finishes touches on its offensive gem to complement Wood's pitching jewel. Filler reached via Ball State's fifth error of the game to begin the top of the fifth, then moved to second on Anna Peterson's (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) pinch-hit single. With one out, Krista Williams (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley) laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases before, with two outs, Nettling smashed a two-run single back through to the middle and Kuhn beat out an RBI single to short to make the final tally 13-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, Williams and Fran Strub (Coralville, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana) preserved the no-hitter with phenomenal diving catches in the outfield, especially Williams effort in which she dove and grabbed the ball with glove on grass before cartwheeling over herself and holding on.
Filler led NU at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs scored. Rabin was 2-for-3 with three runs while DiPrima and Kuhn each collected a pair of hits and two RBIs. LeBeau and Nettling also drove home two each for Northwestern.
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