Northwestern University Athletics
Wednesday, April 27
Evanston, Ill.
4 p.m. CT
Northwestern
20-23
9
vs
1
Loyola (Chicago)
20-23
1
2
3
4
5
6
R
H
E
Loyola (Chicago)
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
5
1
Northwestern
0
3
0
1
4
1
9
11
1
Drohans Earn 500th Win in 9-1 (6) Victory over Loyola (Chicago)
4/27/2016 6:01:00 PM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern earned a 9-1 (6) run-rule victory over Loyola (Chicago) Wednesday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, giving head coach Kate Drohan and associate head coach Caryl Drohan their 500th career win in Evanston.
Northwestern now is 20-23 overall on the season with its victory. Loyola (Chicago) also is 20-23 following the loss. The Wildcats now finish the season with seven-straight games on the road, beginning at 3 p.m. CT Friday, April 29, at Wisconsin in game televised by BTN.
Kate Drohan came to Northwestern to be an assistant under legendary head coach Sharon J. Drysdale in the late 1990s before taking over as the head coach in 2002 following Drysdale's retirement. Her first move was to hire her twin sister, and the pair have built Northwestern in the Big Ten and national power in their 15 years at the helm. Their 500 wins have earned 10 NCAA Tournament appearance, four Regional championships, two Women's College World Series appearances and two Big Ten titles.
In Wednesday's game, -- after a 1-2-3 top of the first that took three minutes to complete -- Northwestern loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half. Morgan Nelson reached on a one-out single before Andrea Filler and Amy Letourneau walked, but a hellacious line drive off the bat of Sammy Nettling was caught to start an inning-ending double play.
NU got after it on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, beginning with a Fran Strub walk. Brooke Marquez sacrificed Strub to second before Alcy Bush drove her home with a single back through the middle. One out later, Sabrina Rabin singled and stole second to put runners at second and third, allowing the Wildcats to put two more on the board when Nelson slammed a single into left field for a 3-0 Wildcats' edge.
Loyola got its first two hits of the game against Northwestern starter Kristen Wood in the top of the third, but she stranded them with the help of Filler on a tricky ball up the middle.
With the score still 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Letourneau entered the circle in relief of Wood and kept the Ramblers off the board before NU tacked on another run in the bottom half. Bush drilled a one-out double and Abbey Boyd entered to run for her. Pinch hitter Anna Petersen then brought Boyd around to make it a 4-0 game. Loyola replaced Madison Hope in the circle with Keenan Dolezal after the hit, and the inning ended thereafter.
Loyola got on the board in the top of the fifth with a couple of two-out singles, the second of which ended up being mishandled in the outfield to allow the lead runner to come around and score.
Filler got that run back immediately in the bottom of the fifth, crushing her 13th home run of the season high off the wall of McGaw Hall to extend the lead back out to four, 5-1.
The inning continued after the blast with a one-out Nettling double, a hit by pitch issued to Strub and a Marquez single that loaded the bases. Pinch runner Marissa Panko replaced Nettling during the sequence. With two outs, Krista Williams smoked a single into left field that brought Panko home, and when the ball got past the fielder out there everyone came home for a bases-clearing play and an 8-1 Northwestern edge headed to the sixth.
In that sixth, Filler ended the contest early with a soaring home run to left center, her 14th of the year. She now has 40 home runs in her college career, 32 of which have come as a Wildcat.
Wood threw three innings in the start, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Because she did not go four frames, it was Letourneau who got the win to move to 9-9 on the year. She also tossed three innings in relief, giving up an unearned run on three hits and two walks with one K.
Filler, Nelson and Bush all had two hits for NU. Filler drove in two (herself…twice) and Nelson also had two RBIs.
••••••
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 now is 20-23 overall on the season with its victory. Loyola (Chicago) also is 20-23 following the loss. The Wildcats now finish the season with seven-straight games on the road, beginning at 3 p.m. CT Friday, April 29, at Wisconsin in game televised by BTN.
Kate Drohan came to Northwestern to be an assistant under legendary head coach Sharon J. Drysdale in the late 1990s before taking over as the head coach in 2002 following Drysdale's retirement. Her first move was to hire her twin sister, and the pair have built Northwestern in the Big Ten and national power in their 15 years at the helm. Their 500 wins have earned 10 NCAA Tournament appearance, four Regional championships, two Women's College World Series appearances and two Big Ten titles.
WATCH: @NUSBCats head coach @KateDrohan gets the #Gatorade shower after #B1GCats career win No. 500! https://t.co/IvePJbv2Rm
— #B1GCats (@NU_Sports) April 27, 2016
In Wednesday's game, -- after a 1-2-3 top of the first that took three minutes to complete -- Northwestern loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half. Morgan Nelson reached on a one-out single before Andrea Filler and Amy Letourneau walked, but a hellacious line drive off the bat of Sammy Nettling was caught to start an inning-ending double play.
NU got after it on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, beginning with a Fran Strub walk. Brooke Marquez sacrificed Strub to second before Alcy Bush drove her home with a single back through the middle. One out later, Sabrina Rabin singled and stole second to put runners at second and third, allowing the Wildcats to put two more on the board when Nelson slammed a single into left field for a 3-0 Wildcats' edge.
Loyola got its first two hits of the game against Northwestern starter Kristen Wood in the top of the third, but she stranded them with the help of Filler on a tricky ball up the middle.
With the score still 3-0 in the top of the fourth, Letourneau entered the circle in relief of Wood and kept the Ramblers off the board before NU tacked on another run in the bottom half. Bush drilled a one-out double and Abbey Boyd entered to run for her. Pinch hitter Anna Petersen then brought Boyd around to make it a 4-0 game. Loyola replaced Madison Hope in the circle with Keenan Dolezal after the hit, and the inning ended thereafter.
Loyola got on the board in the top of the fifth with a couple of two-out singles, the second of which ended up being mishandled in the outfield to allow the lead runner to come around and score.
Filler got that run back immediately in the bottom of the fifth, crushing her 13th home run of the season high off the wall of McGaw Hall to extend the lead back out to four, 5-1.
The inning continued after the blast with a one-out Nettling double, a hit by pitch issued to Strub and a Marquez single that loaded the bases. Pinch runner Marissa Panko replaced Nettling during the sequence. With two outs, Krista Williams smoked a single into left field that brought Panko home, and when the ball got past the fielder out there everyone came home for a bases-clearing play and an 8-1 Northwestern edge headed to the sixth.
In that sixth, Filler ended the contest early with a soaring home run to left center, her 14th of the year. She now has 40 home runs in her college career, 32 of which have come as a Wildcat.
Wood threw three innings in the start, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Because she did not go four frames, it was Letourneau who got the win to move to 9-9 on the year. She also tossed three innings in relief, giving up an unearned run on three hits and two walks with one K.
Filler, Nelson and Bush all had two hits for NU. Filler drove in two (herself…twice) and Nelson also had two RBIs.
••••••
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!
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Letourneau, Amy (9-9)
L: Hope, Madison (2-6)
Base Running:
RUNS: Wilson, Brooke 1
Batting:
2B: Nettling, Sammy 1 ; Bush, Alcy 1
HR: Filler, Andrea 2
RBI: Nelson, Morgan 2 ; Filler, Andrea 2 ; Bush, Alcy 1 ; Williams, Krista 1 ; Petersen, Anna 1
SH: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Marquez, Brooke 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Filler, Andrea 2 ; Panko, Marissa 1 ; Strub, Fran 2 ; Marquez, Brooke 1 ; Bush, Alcy 1 ; Boyd, Abbey 1
SB: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Nelson, Morgan 1
HBP: Strub, Fran 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
2
H
2
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ SoftballIF
/ Softball
P/1B
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF/C
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
P
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