April 18, 2018
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Seven unanswered runs in the middle innings carried Northwestern to an 8-3 win over the University of Notre Dame softball team on Wednesday night at Melissa Cook Stadium.
How It Happened
After Northwestern (26-13) took a 1-0 lead following a one-out Notre Dame (28-16) error in the top of the first inning, the Irish loaded the bases in the bottom of the first. Ali Wester singled to shortstop, Cait Brooks drew a walk and Melissa Rochford was hit by a pitch with two outs. A ground ball out to shortstop ended the threat.
Katie Beriont (11-6) notched a three-up, three-down side against Northwestern in the top of the second. A lineout to first base and back-to-back grounders to shortstop ended the Wildcat ups.
Notre Dame sprung into the lead in the bottom of the second inning. MK Bonamy led off with an infield single, and Alexis Bazos reached by way of a Northwestern error with one out. With the bases loaded after Abby Sweet came aboard on a fielder’s choice, Wester clubbed a two-run single up the middle to score Bonamy and Bazos for the 2-1 Irish advantage.
Northwestern scored four runs by way of three hits and a Notre Dame error in the top of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead. The Wildcats added runs in the top of the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to extend their lead to an 8-2 margin.
Bazos ripped a two-out single to left field in the bottom of the sixth to aid the Notre Dame cause, and ultimately took third base on a Northwestern fielding error. An infield single to second base off the bat of Sweet scored Bazos for the final Irish run of the evening.
Up Next
Notre Dame travels to Boston College for a three-game conference series this weekend in Brighton, Massachusetts.