Two-out production and strong pitching performances lifted Northwestern to its fifth conference sweep of the season with two wins over Nebraska.
After defeating the Cornhuskers (27-20, 10-7 Big Ten) in the opening two games of the weekend, the Wildcats (31-9, 17-2 Big Ten) trailed 5-0 in the fourth inning of the series’ final game, which was ultimately canceled due to inclement weather.
With the sweep, NU won its 13th consecutive conference series and completed its second straight season of winning all its regular-season road series.
In their two wins, the ’Cats scored all but two of their 14 runs with two outs. Freshman catcher Emma Raye led NU’s lineup with four RBIs.
After pitching 18.2 scoreless innings at Purdue last week and earning consecutive Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, graduate student pitcher Ashley Miller started in the circle for Friday’s series opener and secured a 6-5 win.
Nebraska opened Friday’s scoring with a two-run home run. Two innings later, sophomore infielder Kansas Robinson responded with a solo shot, her 11th of the season. A Nebraska fielding error evened the score at two apiece.
In the top of the fifth, senior infielder Hannah Cady put the ’Cats on top with a sacrifice fly, and Raye added to the lead with an RBI single.
The Cornhuskers answered with two runs of their own to tie the game 4-4 in the following frame. With two runners on base, freshman pitcher Renae Cunningham relieved Miller and ended the inning with a fly out.
Cady provided seventh-inning heroics with another sacrifice fly to put NU ahead by one. A wild pitch brought sophomore outfielder Kelsey Nader home, giving the ’Cats a 6-4 lead. In the final inning, the Cornhuskers threatened NU’s impending win with a solo homerun, but Cunningham locked down the mound and secured the victory.
Graduate student pitcher Cami Henry powered the ’Cats to an 8-1 win Saturday, pitching her first complete game of the season and allowing just five hits and one run.
An offensive team effort bolstered Henry’s outing. Graduate student outfielder Angela Zedak put the ’Cats on the board with a 2-RBI single in the third inning. Freshman outfielder Isabel Cunnea padded NU’s lead in the sixth inning with an RBI single.
Freshman infielder Ainsley Muno followed suit, bringing in two runs of her own, to make the score 5-0.
Henry conceded her only run of the day on a sixth-inning Cornhusker solo shot. But, Raye dealt the final blow with a three-run homer to cement NU’s 8-1 win.
The ’Cats will look to defend their perfect home streak next weekend in their last regular season series versus Indiana.
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