DECORAH, Iowa - The University of Northwestern Softball team traveled down to Iowa for a non-conference bout against the Luther Norse. The last time the Eagles took on the Norse, they split the series. In Tuesday afternoon's double header, UNW saw the same result as they lost game 1 in a tight battle, 4-6, and won the second game in comeback fashion, 10-5.
GAME 1:
UNW, after finding offense early and easily in their last couple games, struggled in the first half of the opening inning, as Lani Schoper (Madison Lake, Minn./Mankato West) was the only Eagle to put the ball in play. She made it to first on an error, but was stranded after the Norse found their third strikeout of the inning. In the field, Emma Heffron (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian) took to the circle for the Eagles. Heffron walked the first Luther batter, but Northwestern held the Norse scoreless after a strikeout, pickle, and ground out to leave the first frame 0-0.
Hannah Storey (Big Lake, Minn./Monticello) led off the second inning with a base knock up the middle to make it to first. Then, a beautifully placed bunt from Allison Terry (Blaine, Minn./Blaine) moved Storey to second, while Terry beat the throw to first. Both runners then stole third and second during Kate Beer's (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) at-bat. Beer struck out, which brought Bryn Anderson (Hutchinson, Minn./Hutchinson) up to bat. Anderson, who was named UMAC Softball Player of the Week earlier this morning, showed why as she placed a bunt just out of reach of the diving pitcher, making it to base and scoring Storey for a 1-0 UNW lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Norse scored one run with two outs on the board to tie the game. This brought up the top of Luther's lineup, who launched a three run home run before the Eagles found the third out of the inning.
Trailing 1-4, UNW went three and out after a double play to put UNW back on defense. In the bottom of the inning, the Norse loaded the bases and threatened to increase their lead, but UNW stalled them as they closed the inning to strand all three runners on base
UNW was held scoreless in the top of the 4th as well, to stay down three runs. The bottom of the inning gave Luther a different look at the plate as Maddie Bottineau (Andover, Minn./Andover) came in to pitch. Bottineau came into the game with an ERA of 1.07, which was the best ERA in the conference. Despite her previous success, Luther found two runs to go up 6-1.
The end of the fifth inning brought new life to Northwestern. Anderson was walked then thrown out at second in a fielders choice, while Kate Trump (Faribault, Minn/Bethlehem Academy) made it to first. Mikayla Gee (Rochester, Minn./John Marshall) also made it to first on a fielders choice as Trump was thrown out. Gee then stole second and was brought home on a big double by Sydney Lane (Altoona, Iowa/Grand View Christian). This was Lane's second double of the day to keep her atop the conference in doubles this season with 12. Schoper also made contact for a base hit to move Lane to third. Up next, Jadyn Iverson (West Fargo, N.D./West Fargo) hit a line drive between the third baseman and the short stop to score Lane. In the bottom of the inning, down three, with some growing momentum, UNW found all three outs while leaving one runner on base.
The Eagles needed the three-out stop to bring Emma Edwards (Ham Lake, Minn./Blaine) to the plate for what would be their final run of the game. Edwards entered to pinch hit for Beer, and she lifted the ball over the fence for her 3rd dinger of the season. Bottineau closed the bottom of the sixth with no hits and a strikeout to keep UNW within reach of the Norse. The final inning saw the Eagles battle and threaten, but Luther shut the door as they recorded the third out to stop the potential Northwestern comeback.
Anderson finished 2-2 from the plate with one RBI. Schoper, Lane, and Iverson went 2-4. Lane notched two doubles and on RBI and Iverson hit one double with one RBI. Heffron and Bottineau split the six inning game and allowed a total of 10 hits and five earned runs. Both pitchers threw one strikeout each.
GAME 2:
The first two innings of game two were all the Norse's. UNW went down 5-0 by the second inning. However, Alicia du'Monceaux's squad showed their resiliency as they came back and scored 10 unanswered runs to win the second game before heading back home.
In the first inning, UNW went three and out before the Norse took to batting. Quickly, Luther loaded the bases with no outs, but Ireland Strubbe (Chandler, Ariz./Valley Christian) found the first out as she struck out a batter. The second out was a catch in deep left field territory by Lane. As Lane caught the ball, the runner on third tagged up and sprinted home to score one run. Trump fielded the final out of the inning, but not before another hit from the Norse scored two more runs.
Northwestern found ways to get on base as Edwards and Anderson were walked and Storey doubled to right center, but the Eagles couldn't find a way to bring any runs home as they left all three runners on base. The bottom of the inning started with a snow-cone out, grabbed by Lane on the warning track. Lane also grabbed the next out of the inning. The Norse responded to the two quick outs with a home run to go up 4-0. One more runner made it home for Luther before UNW shut down Norse's charge.
Tired of trailing, the Eagles decided to come back with a strong, five-run inning. This 4th inning started with a big double from Storey, which she hit to the same spot that she had made a diving catch a few moments before. Beer then hit a screamer to the third baseman, who bobbled the catch, giving Beer enough time to make it to first and Storey time to get to third. The bases moved on a single from Anderson. The third baseman grounded the ball and went to throw Storey out at home, but the throw was off target allowing her to score the opening run for UNW. The throwing error moved Beer to third to keep runners on the corner for Trump with no outs. Trump's hit scored Beer and Reganne Henning (Beatrice, Neb./Beatrice) pinch ran for Trump. The bases were crammed after Gee was walked. Lane made it to first on a fielder's choice while the Norse got the force out at home. A double to left center from the hot bat of Schoper scored two runs. Keeping Schoper and Lane on second and third, Iverson drove the score-tying run home with a single to center field. With the momentum fully on their side, Northwestern went three and out for the first time in either game.
The Eagles took the lead in the top of the 6th inning as Lane hit another double to start the four-run outbreak. Lane moved to third on a Schoper ground out. She was then brought home as Iverson hit a line drive up the middle. Emma Morrissey (Wasilla, Alas./Colony) pinch ran for Iverson and stole second on a wild pitch. UNW extended the lead as Morrissey rounded the final bases on the double from Edwards. Briar Armatoski (Amherst, Wis./Pacelli Catholic) ran for Edwards and made it to third on a hard hit single from Storey. Beer kept the Eagles going with a single to score Armatoski and advance Storey to second. Terry snuck a double through the right side to score Storey and keep runners in scoring position. After batting through the lineup, both Terry and Beer stayed on base as the second and third outs were delivered at the plate.
Finishing out the comeback, Northwestern added a cherry on top with a run scored by Schoper in the final inning. Schoper made it to first with a single and advanced to second with Iverson's hit. Edwards batted a single to right field, which brought Schoper and run number 10 home. UNW, with the lead, entered the bottom of the final half inning in need of three outs, which came from a grounder and pop fly to Schoper, and a swinging strikeout from Strubbe.
Strubbe went the length in the circle to move to 11-2 on the season. She struck out three batters and surrendered 10 hits and four earned runs. Storey went 3-5 at the plate, secured two doubles and scored twice. Schoper and Iverson went 2-5 with two RBI each. Terry was 2-2 with one RBI after subbing into the game in the 4th inning.
The Eagles won't be back in action until April 17, when they return to conference play in Mankato, taking on the Vikings of Bethany Lutheran College at 5:30 PM.
