EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern made four errors and Illinois plated six unearned runs to split a Wednesday doubleheader against the Wildcats at Sharon J. Drysdale Field with the Illini taking game two, 9-8.
Northwestern (22-18, 10-6 Big Ten) returns to action Friday through Sunday, April 24-26, against Ohio State on Senior Weekend at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. Illinois now is 22-23 on the year, 11-6 in the conference after splitting the series. NU won game one in run-rule fashion, 12-4 (5).
After Northwestern took command of Game One Wednesday with a nine-run third-inning, Illinois jumped out on top in a big way in the top of the first in Game Two. The Illini scored five runs with a pair of hits, two walks and two Wildcats' errors, with just two of the runs being earned against NU starter Olivia Duehr (Antioch, Ill./Antioch).
Northwestern got one run back in the bottom of the first thanks to a two-out Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) double followed by a Sammy Nettling (Tucson, Ariz./Canyon del Oro) RBI single.
The second inning went much better for Duehr in her second-career start when she stranded a one-out walk at second. She left another Illini on-base in the third, setting the stage for Northwestern to begin taking a bit out of their deficit. Fran Strub (Coralville, Iowa/Clear Creek Amana) was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the third, then Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) singled and Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) walked to load the bases. Filler drove in both Strub and Rabin with a solid single to left, making it a 5-3 game.
Illinois loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fourth on a pair of singles and an error, and Duehr was able to limit the damage to a pair of runs, keeping the Wildcats within four, 7-3.
Northwestern got those two runs back in just two batters in the bottom of the fourth. Brooke Marquez (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) drew a walk to lead off the inning, then Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) deposited a ball into the left-field bleachers for a two-run home run, bringing the score to 7-5. The shot was Edwards' fourth of the year and the 22nd of her career. It also gave her 109 career RBI, moving her into 10th place all-time at NU.
Strub was hit by a pitch to keep the rally going immediately after Edwards' home run, though she was erased at second on an incredible play on a Rabin infield bouncer. With Rabin at first and one out, DiPrima drove a soaring double to the base of the fence in dead center to bring Rabin around and pull the Wildcats within a run, 7-6.
DiPrima's double was the 39th of her career, tying her with Nicole Pauly (2007-10) for third in Northwestern history.
Following DiPrima's double, Filler and Nettling both drew walks to load the bases before Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) lifted a fly back to deep right center that plated Filler on the sacrifice fly to tie the game.
Game one winner Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) entered the circle in relief of Duehr to begin the top of the fifth. Two of the first three Illini to the plate singled to put runners at the corners with one out, then the next batter hit a ball into the hole at short. Filler raced over and gloved it on a backhand before firing to Nettling at the plate in time for the tag application and the second out of the inning. Later, with the bases loaded, Wood threw a nasty 2-2 pitch for an inning-ending strikeout, preserving the tie.
Illinois replaced starter Jade Vecvanags in the circle with Kate Giddens to begin the bottom of the fifth. Marquez led off with a smash single into left, but Illinois was able to turn a double play to send the game into the sixth still knotted.
In the top of the sixth, Illinois again loaded the bases before a two-out grounder resulted in a two-run error, allowing the Illini to grab a 9-7 lead on their fifth and sixth unearned runs of the game.
The score remained the same entering the bottom of the seventh, and despite the woes of the game so far and with daylight fading fast, NU had one last rally in it. Duehr led off with a single into left field. Abbey Boyd (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) pinch ran for her at first, then sprinted to second when Marquez singled into left herself. Brianna LeBeau (Worth, Ill./H.L. Richards) re-entered the game to run for Marquez, and both runners moved up a base when Edwards laid down a perfect sacrifice.
Amy Letourneau (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) entered as a pinch-hitter and beat out an infield single, driving Boyd home and leaving LeBeau at second. Strub re-entered to run, but two outs on the infield, including a sinking line drive caught at short, ended the game.
Filler, Nettling and Marquez each had two hits for Northwestern while Filler drove in two and Rabin scored twice. Edwards had a pair of RBIs on her home run.
Duehr tossed 4.0 innings in her no-decision start, allowing seven runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Wood (11-8) took the loss in relief, going 3.0 innings and allowing two unearned runs on two hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
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