WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – University of Northwestern Softball kicked off their competition in THE Spring Games on Friday morning with games against Adrian College and Houghton University. The games were the first two of nine UNW will play down in Florida during their spring break. The Eagles started the morning with a 6-5 victory over the Bulldogs and then went on to rout the Highlanders 12-3 in five innings.
Game One: Adrian Bulldogs
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning with a two-run home run to center. UNW cut the two-run lead down to one in the fourth inning as
Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice) scored on a wild pitch.
In the fifth inning, the Eagles put four runs on the board to take the lead. UNW loaded the bases with a leadoff walk by
Kate Beer (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and back-to-back bunt singles by
Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) and
Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian). Grace Bently then drove in Beer from third with an RBI single to right. Gee followed, scoring from second on a Bulldog error. Lane and Bently would eventually score on another Bulldog error in left, putting Northwestern up 5-2.
Adrian tied the game in the bottom of the fifth. Undaunted, the Eagles answered right back in the top of the sixth as
Maggie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) capitalized on another Bulldog error to score the go-ahead and eventual game-winning run.
Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) earned the complete-game win for UNW. The sophomore struck out nine batters in her seven innings of work.
Game Two: Houghton Highlanders
In the following game against Houghton, Northwestern fell behind 3-0 early as the Highlanders scored three runs on a two-out, bases-clearing double in the top of the first inning.
The Eagles responded by scoring twice as many runs in the bottom half of the frame. Gee led off with a bunt-single, proceeded to steal both second and third bases, and then scored on a fielding error in right. Lane later scored from third on a ground out to the pitcher to bring UNW within one run of Houghton.
Riley Summers (Fontana, Wis./Big Foot) followed immediately after with an RBI single, scoring
Lindsey Dvorak (Richmond, Minn./ROCORI) from third to tie the game at 3-3.
Later in that first inning,
Gabrielle Keith (Marble Rock, Iowa/Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock) stepped up to the plate with two outs and runners on second and third. The sophomore proceeded to hit the first home run of her collegiate career, launching a three-run bomb to right center to put the Eagles ahead 6-3.
UNW added another six runs in the second inning with four RBI singles, a sac fly, and a run scored on a while pitch. The 12-3 lead carried through the end of the fifth, were the game was called for Northwestern on account of the eight-run mercy rule.
Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) earned the win for the Eagles, going all five innings and striking out five.
Up Next
Northwestern has two games on Saturday, March 4. First, the Eagles take on Dominican University at 9:00am eastern time in the morning. After, UNW will battle the University of Dubuque at 11:30am eastern.
