Northwestern (24-19, 12-7 Big Ten) hosts its final home game of the 2015 season when DePaul visits at 4 p.m. CT Wednesday, April 29. Ohio State now is 26-21, 9-11 on the year after its loss in this game.
After completing a two-day, 20-17 game earlier on Sunday in which 30 runs were scored after an overnight rain delay, Northwestern starter Kristen Wood (Trevor, Wis./Wilmot Union) came out and retired Ohio State 1-2-3 with a pair of strikeouts in the top of the first of this contest. The Wildcats then opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Sabrina Rabin (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) led off with a single and stole second, then scored when senior Andrea DiPrima (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) singled into center.
Later, with two outs and DiPrima at third, a wild pitch allowed the Wildcat to scamper home with an evasive slide for a 2-0 NU edge heading into the second inning.
Wood fanned two in the second and the whole side in the third to reach seven strikeouts during her first trip through the Ohio State order.
Northwestern added a run to its total in the bottom of the third, again on a rally started with a Rabin single and steal. This time, Rabin also ended up at third on a wild pitch before DiPrima drew a walk. Andrea Filler (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) did the RBI honors this time with a single to right that pushed the score to 3-0.
The rally continued when senior Julia Kuhn (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) reached base on an error by the shortstop the load the bases, but the OSU shortstop was able to redeem herself on the very next play on a ball deep in the hole to end the inning.
Ohio State got its first base runner of the game on a leadoff walk in the fourth before a two-run home run on the Buckeyes first hit of the contest cut the Wildcats lead down to 3-2.
In the bottom half, NU answered right back. Senior Anna Edwards (La Canada, Calif./La Canada) reached base via an error to begin the rally and gave way to pinch runner Krista Williams (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley). Williams scampered to second on a ball in the dirt, then moved to third when Brooke Marquez (Garden Grove, Calif./Pacifica) hit a fly ball to center that was dropped for a second Buckeyes' error in the inning, putting two #B1GCats in scoring position.
Brianna LeBeau (Worth, Ill./H.L. Richards) entered to pinch hit at that point, sending a two-run single into center to extend the Northwestern lead back out to three, 5-2. Later, with two outs and LeBeau at second, Filler shot a single into center to make it a 6-2 contest.
Wood stranded a pair of Buckeyes base runners in the top of the fifth, then Ohio State starter Olivia O'Reilly issued a leadoff walk to Edwards in the bottom of the inning. The Buckeyes opted to replace O'Reilly with Alex DiDomenico at that moment, and the new hurler immediately walked Marquez, LeBeau and Rabin in order to force Edwards across the plate for a 7-2 NU lead.
Ohio State then put Shelby Hursh in the circle in relief, who walked DiPrima to force another run home. Filler followed with an RBI fielder's choice ball, driving in LeBeau for her 56th RBI of the season and a 9-2 score in the game.
The score remained the same in the top of the seventh, where Ohio State got back-to-back leadoff singles for just its third and fourth hits of the game. The Buckeyes would squeak out one run from the rally before Wood shut it down for the victory.
Wood (13-8) earned the win, going seven complete innings and allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits and a walk with nine strikeouts.
Filler went 2-for-4 at the plate and recorded three RBIs, LeBeau was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored, Rabin had two hits and two runs, DiPrima drove in two and Marquez scored twice.
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