MADISON, Wis. – Sophomore Morgan Newport fanned a career-high nine batters and Northwestern used its speed to force five Wisconsin throwing errors to help the Wildcats to a 4-2 win over the Badgers Saturday at Goodman Diamond.
Northwestern now is 34-15 overall on the season, 14-7 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is 26-20, 10-9 in the league.
The two teams meet again at noon tomorrow, Sunday, May 6, to end the regular season. Following that game, the bracket with game times will be released for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament May 10-12 hosted by Wisconsin in Madison.
A patient Northwestern squad got four base runners yet no runs across in the top of the first. Sabrina Rabin led off the game with a walk, but in an extremely rare event was caught stealing a few pitches later. Rachel Lewis walked, Morgan Nelson singled and later, with two outs, Marissa Panko also walked to load the bases, but Wisconsin starter Kaitlyn Menz was able to strand them all.
In the second, Menz did not strand them all. The Wildcats started the game's scoring with a three-spot in the frame, beginning with a Lily Novak single inside the bag at third before Mac Dunlap choked up and poked a single into right center and Novak raced around to third. From that position, Novak scored the game's first run on a passed ball before, with two outs, Lewis launched a deep fly ball to left center that landed on the track for an RBI triple. Wisconsin threw the ball away trying to get Lewis at third, and she trotted home to make NU's lead 3-0.
After leaving a pair of runners in scoring position in the third, NU plated another run in the fourth. With two outs in the frame, Lewis blasted a single off the first baseman before taking second when an ill-advised throw trickled away for an error. Those extra 60 feet were big time when Nelson singled on the infield herself before Wisconsin again threw the ball away, allowing Lewis to come around to score to make it a 4-0 game.
In the bottom of the fifth, Wisconsin used a two-out rally to score its first run of the game. After a walk, a pair of single scored one Badger. Another free pass loaded the bases, but Newport was able to get a weak grounder to Lewis at second to end the frame with the score 4-1.
After the shaky fifth, Newport came out with her hair on fire in the sixth, fanning the side to reach a career-best eight strikeouts in the game. The final two Ks in the inning were nasty pitches in the dirt that left the Badgers fishing.
Wisconsin went after one more rally in the bottom of the seventh, getting its leadoff batter aboard in a strikeout-wild pitch (Newport's ninth K of the game) before a double put runners at second and third with no outs. Newport allowed just one of those runners to come home on a sacrifice fly before slamming the door shut for the complete-game victory.
Newport (13-6) got the win with the complete-game effort and her career-best nine strikeouts. She allowed two runs on six hits and three walks while throwing just a half-dozen pitches over the century mark.
Lewis was 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate while both Nelson and Novak collected a pair of hits.
Of NU's four runs in the game, only one (Dunlap scoring on the Lewis triple) was batted in. The other three scored on either a passed ball or a throwing error.
Northwestern now is 34-15 overall on the season, 14-7 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin is 26-20, 10-9 in the league.
The two teams meet again at noon tomorrow, Sunday, May 6, to end the regular season. Following that game, the bracket with game times will be released for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament May 10-12 hosted by Wisconsin in Madison.
A patient Northwestern squad got four base runners yet no runs across in the top of the first. Sabrina Rabin led off the game with a walk, but in an extremely rare event was caught stealing a few pitches later. Rachel Lewis walked, Morgan Nelson singled and later, with two outs, Marissa Panko also walked to load the bases, but Wisconsin starter Kaitlyn Menz was able to strand them all.
In the second, Menz did not strand them all. The Wildcats started the game's scoring with a three-spot in the frame, beginning with a Lily Novak single inside the bag at third before Mac Dunlap choked up and poked a single into right center and Novak raced around to third. From that position, Novak scored the game's first run on a passed ball before, with two outs, Lewis launched a deep fly ball to left center that landed on the track for an RBI triple. Wisconsin threw the ball away trying to get Lewis at third, and she trotted home to make NU's lead 3-0.
Rachel Lewis with a TRIPLE to cap a three-run #B1GCats rally in the second!#B1GCats 3, Wisconsin 0 | B2 pic.twitter.com/Hog7BMUs8H
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) May 5, 2018
After leaving a pair of runners in scoring position in the third, NU plated another run in the fourth. With two outs in the frame, Lewis blasted a single off the first baseman before taking second when an ill-advised throw trickled away for an error. Those extra 60 feet were big time when Nelson singled on the infield herself before Wisconsin again threw the ball away, allowing Lewis to come around to score to make it a 4-0 game.
After a Rachel Lewis two-out single, Morgan Nelson brings her home with an infield single of her own in the fourth!#B1GCats 4, Wisconsin 0 | T4 pic.twitter.com/aj4WpXtPpa
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) May 5, 2018
In the bottom of the fifth, Wisconsin used a two-out rally to score its first run of the game. After a walk, a pair of single scored one Badger. Another free pass loaded the bases, but Newport was able to get a weak grounder to Lewis at second to end the frame with the score 4-1.
After the shaky fifth, Newport came out with her hair on fire in the sixth, fanning the side to reach a career-best eight strikeouts in the game. The final two Ks in the inning were nasty pitches in the dirt that left the Badgers fishing.
MORGAN NEWPORT! She fans the side in the sixth! This is her career-best EIGHTH K of the game to end the frame!#B1GCats 4, Wisconsin 1 | T7 pic.twitter.com/aHVvZRgSnp
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) May 5, 2018
Wisconsin went after one more rally in the bottom of the seventh, getting its leadoff batter aboard in a strikeout-wild pitch (Newport's ninth K of the game) before a double put runners at second and third with no outs. Newport allowed just one of those runners to come home on a sacrifice fly before slamming the door shut for the complete-game victory.
Newport (13-6) got the win with the complete-game effort and her career-best nine strikeouts. She allowed two runs on six hits and three walks while throwing just a half-dozen pitches over the century mark.
Lewis was 2-for-3 with an RBI at the plate while both Nelson and Novak collected a pair of hits.
Of NU's four runs in the game, only one (Dunlap scoring on the Lewis triple) was batted in. The other three scored on either a passed ball or a throwing error.