It came down to the final out. The game-tying run stood 60 feet away and the winning run waited on second. But Illinois-Chicago wouldn”t get any closer.
Brie Brown started for the Northwestern softball team (25-12, 6-6 Big Ten), and pitched 6 1/3 innings before a leadoff walk and a defensive lapse in the Wildcats” infield put the Flames within striking distance.
Coach Kate Drohan pulled Brown and called on freshman Courtnay Foster to pitch the final 2/3 of an inning and seal the victory. Illinois-Chicago had runners on the corners with one out. After the Sara Hernandez popped up, Foster hit Amanda Rivera to load the bases.
But Nicole Shopard”s ground out to second ended the Flames” rally.
‘We let them in the game when they shouldn”t have even been on the field,’ outfielder Erin Mobley said.
The Cats, who beat the Flames 5-4 on April 2, escaped again with a narrow victory over an Illinois-Chicago team that fell to 14-29.
Foster stopped the Flames” late charge to earn her third save of the season and preserve the win for Brown (6-1). The NU senior starter tied a career-high with eight strikeouts while allowing two runs and six hits.
‘I was glad we won but not happy at all with the way we played,’ Mobley said. ‘We didn”t capitalize on a lot of opportunities we had.’
Mobley was a bright spot for NU, hitting safely in three of four trips to the plate. Second baseman Carri Leto and left fielder Brett Nakabayashi had two hits apiece.
The Cats jumped on the scoreboard early, scoring two runs in the top of the third inning. Following back-to-back singles by Nakabayashi and Leto, designated player Cindy Muran knocked a two-run single up the middle.
Illinois-Chicago responded by scoring a run in the third, and NU answered in the top of the fourth with a two-out single by Leto that drove home center fielder Jessie Wellnitz.
NU had difficulty stringing together hits and getting its offense going in late-inning clutch situations. The Cats stranded nine baserunners, eight of whom were in scoring position.
‘We scored three runs, but we didn”t put them away when we had the opportunity to late in the game,’ Drohan said.
Brown and the defense cruised through the first two innings, shutting down Illinois-Chicago and holding them hitless.
‘We had a lack of energy, and we didn”t have any urgency,’ Mobley said. ‘Brie did what she had to do, but we didn”t make the outs behind her.’
Although the Cats have enjoyed a 21-11 record on the the road this season, Drohan said her team looked flat in the cross-town match up.
‘Our defense was very shaky today, ‘ Drohan said. ‘A lot of the (Flames”) hits I thought were errors.’
Illinois-Chicago”s pitching staff combined to strike out eight Cats and walk only one.
But NU blamed itself for allowing the Flames to stay in the game.
‘We made their pitchers look too good,’ Brown said. ‘They had too many strikeouts.
‘It was too close of a game for how good our team is.’
