Sunday, May 8
West Lafayette, IN
11 a.m. CT/Noon ET
Northwestern
3
at
1
Purdue
#B1GCats Finish Third in Big Ten With Sweep of Boilers
5/8/2016 1:39:00 PM | Softball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Northwestern concluded the 2016 regular season Sunday with a 3-1 win over Purdue to garner a sweep in the series, finishing a furious late-season charge that saw the Wildcats go 15-5 over their final 20 games.
Northwestern concludes the regular season with a 25-25 record, 15-8 in the B1G. Purdue finishes 2016 at 27-27, 8-15 in the conference.
The Wildcats finish third in the Big Ten by virtue of their league mark, and as the No. 3 seed receive a bye through the first round of next week's Big Ten Tournament hosted by Penn State. NU will open the tournament at 11 a.m. CT Friday, May 13, against the winner of the Thursday No. 6 seed Ohio State vs. No. 11 seed Rutgers game. The official bracket is linked above and here.
Northwestern placed itself among the top three in the conference for the sixth time under head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan. The Wildcats have been among the top-four in the league 10 times, a number that includes two Big Ten championships.
After waiting until the seventh inning to score on Friday and Saturday night, the Wildcats jumped on top immediately in the first on Sunday. Sabrina Rabin and Morgan Nelson each singled to begin the game, with both also stealing second. Andrea Filler walked to load the bases before, one out later, Sammy Nettling put a grounder in play that was enough to score Rabin for a 1-0 NU edge. Purdue's senior ace Lilly Fecho was able to cut the rally short at a single run.
Freshman Kenzie Ellis, fresh off two innings in Northwestern's three-way combined no-hitter Saturday, allowed a single to the second batter in the bottom of the first. She made quick work of the next two Boilermakers, however, to keep any rally from developing.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the third, beginning when Nelson notched her second single of the game. Nelson swiped second before Filler joined her on base via the senior's second walk of the contest. The pair then executed a double steal, with the throw to third ricocheting into left field. Nelson raced home on the error while Filler took third; Filler came home later on an Amy Letourneau RBI groundout to extend the score to 3-0.
Ellis cruised until the bottom of the fifth when Purdue was handed a rally. With two outs and the bases empty, Ellis delivered a three-ball pitch that was flown into left field for the third out, except Ellis -- who entered the game with zero illegal pitches on the season -- was called for just that, granting the batter a walk. An error followed to give Purdue runners at second and third, prompting Letourneau to enter the circle in relief. The Boilermakers found the scoreboard for the first time in the entire series on a passed ball before Letourneau shut down the inning with the score 3-1.
Purdue put together a big threat that just felt tense in the bottom of the sixth when Letourneau hit two batters with one out. She next coaxed a grounder to Brooke Marquez, however, and for the second time in the game the sophomore tagged the runner and threw to first to complete a 4-3 inning ending double play (she also ended the third inning this way).
With the score still the same in the bottom of the seventh, Letourneau got a one-pitch comebacker for the first out of the frame. The next batter battled through an 11-pitch at-bat before lining to right where Fran Strub came racing in and went into a slide to grab the second out. A pinch hitter singled with two outs, but Letourneau then got a pop out on the infield to end the game.
Ellis (7-6) picked up the victory, going 4.2 innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Letourneau earned her fourth save of the year, giving up just one hit in 2.1 frames.
Nelson finished the contest 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and a run. Rabin had two base knocks.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!
Northwestern concludes the regular season with a 25-25 record, 15-8 in the B1G. Purdue finishes 2016 at 27-27, 8-15 in the conference.
The Wildcats finish third in the Big Ten by virtue of their league mark, and as the No. 3 seed receive a bye through the first round of next week's Big Ten Tournament hosted by Penn State. NU will open the tournament at 11 a.m. CT Friday, May 13, against the winner of the Thursday No. 6 seed Ohio State vs. No. 11 seed Rutgers game. The official bracket is linked above and here.
Northwestern placed itself among the top three in the conference for the sixth time under head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan. The Wildcats have been among the top-four in the league 10 times, a number that includes two Big Ten championships.
After waiting until the seventh inning to score on Friday and Saturday night, the Wildcats jumped on top immediately in the first on Sunday. Sabrina Rabin and Morgan Nelson each singled to begin the game, with both also stealing second. Andrea Filler walked to load the bases before, one out later, Sammy Nettling put a grounder in play that was enough to score Rabin for a 1-0 NU edge. Purdue's senior ace Lilly Fecho was able to cut the rally short at a single run.
Freshman Kenzie Ellis, fresh off two innings in Northwestern's three-way combined no-hitter Saturday, allowed a single to the second batter in the bottom of the first. She made quick work of the next two Boilermakers, however, to keep any rally from developing.
The Wildcats added to their lead in the third, beginning when Nelson notched her second single of the game. Nelson swiped second before Filler joined her on base via the senior's second walk of the contest. The pair then executed a double steal, with the throw to third ricocheting into left field. Nelson raced home on the error while Filler took third; Filler came home later on an Amy Letourneau RBI groundout to extend the score to 3-0.
Ellis cruised until the bottom of the fifth when Purdue was handed a rally. With two outs and the bases empty, Ellis delivered a three-ball pitch that was flown into left field for the third out, except Ellis -- who entered the game with zero illegal pitches on the season -- was called for just that, granting the batter a walk. An error followed to give Purdue runners at second and third, prompting Letourneau to enter the circle in relief. The Boilermakers found the scoreboard for the first time in the entire series on a passed ball before Letourneau shut down the inning with the score 3-1.
Purdue put together a big threat that just felt tense in the bottom of the sixth when Letourneau hit two batters with one out. She next coaxed a grounder to Brooke Marquez, however, and for the second time in the game the sophomore tagged the runner and threw to first to complete a 4-3 inning ending double play (she also ended the third inning this way).
With the score still the same in the bottom of the seventh, Letourneau got a one-pitch comebacker for the first out of the frame. The next batter battled through an 11-pitch at-bat before lining to right where Fran Strub came racing in and went into a slide to grab the second out. A pinch hitter singled with two outs, but Letourneau then got a pop out on the infield to end the game.
Ellis (7-6) picked up the victory, going 4.2 innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Letourneau earned her fourth save of the year, giving up just one hit in 2.1 frames.
Nelson finished the contest 3-for-4 with three stolen bases and a run. Rabin had two base knocks.
••••••
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook, check us out on Instagram, visit our Social Media page and download our mobile app from the Apple Store and Google Play! To get involved with the #B1GCats, become a season-ticket holder or join the Wildcat Fund!