Northwestern entered the weekend with one streak and came back with a different one.
The Wildcats (10-9) were riding a seven-game winning streak into the Easton Invitational in Fullerton, Calif., but a close 2-0 loss to No. 8 California in the opening game Friday quickly ended that roll. Despite losing its first three games on the weekend, NU came back to pitch back-to-back shutouts in its final two contests to leave California without giving up a run in 17 consecutive innings.
The momentum of the previous seven games carried into the Cats’ contest with the Golden Bears. The two teams combined for four hits in the game and sophomore pitcher Amy Letourneau was able to match her California counterpart stride-for-stride to keep the game scoreless into the sixth inning.
In that fateful inning, junior catcher Paige Tonz fielded a bunt and sent a wild throw into right field, which bounced around in the corner long enough for both the baserunner and batter to come around and score. The two unearned runs were the only two scored in the game, as NU managed to only get four runners on base.
The day did not get any better when No. 24 Oregon State layed a 12-spot on NU in a 12-1 six-inning loss. No matter who the Cats had in the circle, the Beavers found a way to smack them around.
Senior pitcher Meghan Lamberth threw 3 1/3 innings and gave up six earned runs on eight hits. Junior Sammy Albanese surrendered six runs, five of them earned, and five hits in her 2 2/3 innings of relief work.
NU’s offense suffered for most of the first three games, combining for nine hits and three runs in those contests against ranked opponents. The defense was not much better as NU gave up seven unearned runs, including four in a wild second inning against No. 16 Stanford, in which the Cardinal scored all five of its runs.
However, the whole weekend seemingly shifted in the fourth inning against the Cardinal when Drohan replaced Letourneau with Lamberth.
The senior got out of a bases-loaded jam with two strikeouts, and in the subsequent inning, sophomore outfielder Olivia Duehr crushed a pitch to left field for a two-run home run. The Cardinal only managed one baserunner for the rest of the game, but NU could not take advantage of having the bases loaded in the seventh inning with two outs.
In the final two games, Lamberth and Letourneau tossed gems, and the offense came to life. NU combined for 30 hits and 15 runs in the last two contests of the weekend. One of the big offensive stars was Duehr, who hit a home run in each of the last three games while batting 5-for-9 in those matchups. The weekend raised Duehr’s average from .250 to .333 and tripled the number of RBIs she had on the season.
