Friday, March 25
Evanston, IL
12 pm CT
Northwestern
20-4, 0
3
vs
0
Michigan State
16-11, 0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Michigan State
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
3
Northwestern
0
0
1
0
0
2
X
3
5
1
Photo by: photo by John Konstantaras
Williams Strikes Out 17, 'Cats Sweep Doubleheader
3/25/2022 4:09:00 PM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern opened its Big Ten season with a pair of victories over the Michigan State Spartans in the Wildcats return to Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The Wildcats improvde to 21-4 on the season following a 3-0 shutout over Michigan State in game one, followed by an 8-6 victory over the Spartans in game two. Northwestern improves to 21-4 on the season, marking its best start through 25 games in the 21-year Drohan era.
Fresh off a no-hitter against Stanford in her last outing, the reigning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week Danielle Williams started game one and did not disappoint. Williams carried another no-hit bid into the fifth inning and finished with a one-hit complete game shutout to go along with a career-high 17 strikeouts. It marks the seventh complete game shutout of the season for Williams, who improves to 12-1 on the season. She followed up that performance by earning a save in game two, her fifth of the season, recording the final three outs of the game to strand the potential tying run on the basepaths.
In game one, the Wildcats struck first on an error in the third inning to score Skyler Shellmyer. The 'Cats carried that 1-0 lead up untilt the sixth inning, when a pair of insurance runs came around to score after an errant Michigan State throw. Nikki Cuchran and Hannah Cady each led the way with two hits in game one.
Lauren Boyd started game two for the Wildcats and fired 5.2 innings while striking out five en route to picking up her third win of the season. The 'Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to RBI from Jordyn Rudd, Angela Zedak and Cady.
Rachel Lewis extended the 'Cats lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning in game two thanks to a towering three-run home run. It marked Lewis' ninth home run on the season and the 51st of her career, moving her just six home runs away from tying Tammy Williams' all-time home run record of 57.
The 'Cats tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI-single from Lewis to score Grace Nieto, followed by a sacrifice fly from Jordyn Rudd to score Shellmyer.
Northwestern will look to complete the series sweep over the Spartans on Saturday, with first pitch tentatively scheduled for 1 pm CT (weather dependent).
The Wildcats improvde to 21-4 on the season following a 3-0 shutout over Michigan State in game one, followed by an 8-6 victory over the Spartans in game two. Northwestern improves to 21-4 on the season, marking its best start through 25 games in the 21-year Drohan era.
Fresh off a no-hitter against Stanford in her last outing, the reigning NFCA National Pitcher of the Week Danielle Williams started game one and did not disappoint. Williams carried another no-hit bid into the fifth inning and finished with a one-hit complete game shutout to go along with a career-high 17 strikeouts. It marks the seventh complete game shutout of the season for Williams, who improves to 12-1 on the season. She followed up that performance by earning a save in game two, her fifth of the season, recording the final three outs of the game to strand the potential tying run on the basepaths.
In game one, the Wildcats struck first on an error in the third inning to score Skyler Shellmyer. The 'Cats carried that 1-0 lead up untilt the sixth inning, when a pair of insurance runs came around to score after an errant Michigan State throw. Nikki Cuchran and Hannah Cady each led the way with two hits in game one.
Lauren Boyd started game two for the Wildcats and fired 5.2 innings while striking out five en route to picking up her third win of the season. The 'Cats jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning thanks to RBI from Jordyn Rudd, Angela Zedak and Cady.
Rachel Lewis extended the 'Cats lead to 6-2 in the bottom of the second inning in game two thanks to a towering three-run home run. It marked Lewis' ninth home run on the season and the 51st of her career, moving her just six home runs away from tying Tammy Williams' all-time home run record of 57.
The 'Cats tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI-single from Lewis to score Grace Nieto, followed by a sacrifice fly from Jordyn Rudd to score Shellmyer.
Northwestern will look to complete the series sweep over the Spartans on Saturday, with first pitch tentatively scheduled for 1 pm CT (weather dependent).
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Boyd, Lauren (3-1)
L: Ladd, Sarah (5-4)
S: Williams, Danielle (5)
Batting:
2B: Barroso, A. 1
HR: Dumas, Z. 1
RBI: Barroso, A. 1 ; Dumas, Z. 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Mabrey, Jess 1 ; Callahan, C. 1 ; Ladd, Caitie 1 ; Meech, Mack. 1 ; Dumas, Z. 1 ; Joseph, Abby 1
SB: Ladd, Caitie 1
PO: Meech, Mack. 1
Batting:
2B: Nieto, Grace 1
HR: Lewis, Rachel 1
RBI: Lewis, Rachel 4 ; Rudd, Jordyn 2 ; Zedak, Angela 1 ; Cady, Hannah 1
SF: Rudd, Jordyn 1 ; Cady, Hannah 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Shellmyer, Skyler 3 ; Lewis, Rachel 2 ; Rudd, Jordyn 1 ; Nieto, Grace 2
SB: Lewis, Rachel 2 ; Rudd, Jordyn 1
CS: Lindsey, Ayana 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
4
R
2
H
3
RBI
4
AB
2
R
3
H
1
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
AB
1
R
1
H
0
RBI
2
Players Mentioned
P/IF
/ Softball
IF/C
/ Softball
IF
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballC/U
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P/U
/ Softball
U
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