After freshman shortstop Kaylie Avvisato’s fourth error allowed No. 19 Mississippi State to plate five additional unearned runs in Northwestern’s 14-0 home-opening loss Friday, it only added insult to injury when the Sharon J. Drysdale Field scoreboard reset to zero, unable to accurately display the 10-run fourth inning the visitors had just unloaded.
As barks and chants erupted from the visiting Bulldog (27-6, 5-1 SEC) dugout, the Wildcats (14-11, 4-0 Big Ten) left their home field with few positive takeaways from a rare thrashing in friendly territory.
“We talked about leaving Friday’s game behind,” Avvisato said. “Just focusing on (Saturday’s) games, taking it one pitch at a time and feeding off each other.”
Coach Kate Drohan’s squad did just that as it bounced back from its Friday drubbing, upsetting its ranked SEC foe 4-2 in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader before falling 12-2 to close out the weekend.
With sophomore pitcher Riley Grudzielanek in the circle to start Friday, the ’Cats’ series opener quickly went awry as the Bulldogs launched three consecutive singles and a walk to start.
By then, the visitors had already amassed their first of three first-inning runs and placed runners at the corners before NU recorded its first out.
After two quick defensive plays, Avvisato had a chance to end the inning on a routine ground ball up the middle and an impending force out at second.
Instead, she committed two errors on a single opportunity: The first when the ball kicked off the top of her glove and into shallow center field, and the second when she flipped the ball over senior infielder Grace Nieto’s head in a desperate attempt to salvage the maneuver.
The ’Cats couldn’t answer for their defensive miscues at the plate, failing to string hits together as they stranded six runners on the basepaths in their few potential scoring chances.
In a nightmare half-inning for NU, the Bulldogs plated 10 fourth-inning runs on nine hits — including two home runs — and two errors.
Though freshman pitcher Emma Blea responded by tossing a scoreless fifth frame in relief, the ’Cats never found their offensive rhythm and the game reached its end in run-rule fashion.
Prior to its Friday loss, NU had dropped just one other home contest since April 2022 — its penultimate regular season tilt with Indiana last season. It hadn’t lost a series in Evanston since 2021.
In its lone win of the weekend, the ’Cats struck early when junior outfielder Kelsey Nader and Avvisato recorded back-to-back singles, junior infielder Bridget Donahey reached base on a dropped third strike and sophomore outfielder Isabel Cunnea cleared what had been loaded bases with a first-inning stand-up triple.
“It’s really important that we score first,” Cunnea said. “Especially against a team that can hit like they can.”
The hosts capitalized on a Bulldog error in the second to tack on another insulation run, extending their lead to 4-0.
Though the ’Cats didn’t score again for the remainder of the contest, a flawless defensive showing ensured that their early lead would carry them to victory.
Mississippi State’s only two runs came in the form of solo home runs in the fourth and sixth innings, one of which landed on the roof of the nearby Welsh-Ryan Arena.
NU bookended the weekend with a blowout defeat that closely resembled its Friday loss, ending the series in a five-inning run-rule showing after the Bulldogs combined for 10 runs in the fourth and fifth frames.
“We knew their offense was tough coming in,” Drohan said. “I thought we just gave them too many bases over the course of the weekend which created a lot of big innings.”
When Grudzielanek walked in a run amid “pitcher’s nightmare” one-out, bases-loaded circumstances, an already testy relationship between the NU home crowd and the umpires intensified. Even Drohan exchanged words with the officials from outside the dugout.
The Bulldogs followed that free base with a grand slam as the ’Cats’ hopes of notching back-to-back upset wins drifted away.
Staring down another mercy-rule loss, NU plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth when senior catcher Lauren Sciborski doubled off the right-center field wall for her first hit of the season.
But despite a gritty attempt to extend the contest, the ’Cats couldn’t make it beyond the fifth inning, ultimately falling by way of the run rule.
Following a losing weekend against Mississippi State, NU will host Northern Illinois for a midweek nonconference fixture Wednesday.
Email: audreypachuta2027@u.northwestern.edu
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