Box Score MINNEAPOLIS – The Northwestern softball team let all its pent up frustration from the early part of this week of play out on North Central University on Friday, claiming a 14-0 victory over the Rams in a shortened affair at East Phillips Park. After losing a pair of heartbreakers and being shut out twice on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Eagles went off for 18 hits while holding North Central to just three.
UNW scored a pair of runs in the first inning and one more in the third, but it was a monster 11-run fifth frame that put the Eagles ahead in a big way.
A pair of first inning RBI singles put Northwestern on the board early as hits from
Megan Threlkeld (Burnsville, Minn./Burnsville) and
Colleen Feldheim (Northfield, Ill./Loyola Academy) scored
Kelsey Stoltman (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View) and Threlkeld.
Ellen Larkin (Excelsior, Minn./Southwest Christian) picked up an RBI single of her own in the third, bringing in
Erin Kleinjan (Avon, Minn./Holdingford) after the senior had opened the inning with a leadoff single of her own.
Then came the scoring frenzy in Inning 5, when the Eagles had four hits before North Central recorded the first out of that frame. After Kleinjan was thrown out at home on a Larkin fielder's choice, Northwestern followed with 10 runs in its next eight at-bats. After Stoltman and Kaylee Forcer earned RBIs on walks,
Jennifer Ankrom (New Hampton, Iowa/New Hampton), Kleinjan, Feldheim and
Maddie Pierro (Andover, Minn./Legacy) all hit consecutive doubles, giving UNW five extra-base hits for the game.
While Northwestern was busy collecting hits on offense,
Ann Lokke (St. Francis, Minn./St. Francis) allowed just three North Central hits from the pitcher's circle while keeping the Rams off the scoreboard. Lokke struck out four while walking three of the 21 batters she faced.
Kleinjan posted four hits in the five-inning game, while Threlkeld, Ankrom and Feldheim all had three-hit days.
The Eagles will be looking for more revenge on Saturday when they face Northland College for an Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) doubleheader in Chisago Lakes, Minn. The LumberJills used an eight-run seventh inning spree to overcome a three-run lead by UNW to beat the Eagles on Tuesday in Duluth. Saturday's first pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
