Softball’s winning streak halted at 5

By Phil Cobb | March 13, 2015 |

DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Northwest sophomore right fielder Cassidy Lee attempts to slap a pitch the other way during the Bearcats’ 7-6 loss in game two of a doubleheader Friday against Southwest Baptist.

For a little more than four innings of game two Friday afternoon, it looked like the Northwest softball team would push its winning streak to six games. But in the second leg of a doubleheader against Southwest Baptist, five combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings for SBU stifled the streak at five wins.

Northwest ended the day taking game one from Southwest Baptist, 2-1, before falling in game two, 7-6. Head coach Ryan Anderson and Northwest held a 4-2 lead heading into the fifth inning of the second game before SBU’s pair of rallies helped halt the winning ways.

“What hurts us in the long run is that this was such a big conference game,” Anderson said. “We go down 1-0 in the first inning, then we come back and score three to get back in it. We have confidence that we’re playing that way … Those little things, the walk, the error, those little things just caught up with us.

“Hopefully we can learn from that, just that errors are going to happen. We just have to continue to fight.”

In game one, Northwest tallied a first-inning run on a sacrifice fly from freshman shortstop Rebecca Maher to bring in sophomore second baseman Torri Blythe. Blythe led off the inning with a triple to set herself up in scoring position.

The lead was stretched to 2-0 in the bottom of the second when a double steal moved sophomore right fielder Cassidy Lee to second base, allowing junior Madison Jones to cross the plate on the throw.

While the Northwest offense got things going early, junior pitcher Sarah Baldwin held her own against SBU, going five innings before allowing a hit. But in the top of the sixth, Southwest Baptist’s Rachel Ray singled on a bunt before scoring from first on a single from first baseman Caitlyn Cooner.

Baldwin tallied a complete game with seven innings pitched while allowing three hits and striking out five.

“She just kept it on the handles,” Anderson said. “They had trouble just getting through the ball. They didn’t have a hit until the sixth inning on her … She threw well.”

Southwest Baptist struck first in game two thanks to an RBI single in the top of the first from third baseman Brittanie Halquist to bring in Ray.

However, Northwest scored in the first inning –– for the 11th time this season –– to answer. Blythe galloped home on a safety squeeze from Maher. Later in the inning, sophomore third baseman Chantel Adams drove in Maher and senior first baseman Stephanie Mark with a single to center that was botched by Catlin Evans, bringing the lead to 3-1.

Southwest Baptist closed the gap in the top of the third with an RBI double to left field from Halquist to bring in Ray. Northwest stole the run back in the bottom of the fourth on chopped single from Blythe between Halquist and shortstop Stormy Christerson.

But in the top of the fifth, SBU struck it big after Halquist walked, Dana Graves singled and Hailey Turner was hit by a pitch. Addie Murders and Stef Lischke pinch ran for Graves and Turner, respectively, before second baseman Emily Davis pounded a bases-clearing double into left-center, giving Southwest Baptist a 5-4 advantage.

“Our pitchers weren’t throwing bad, but the walks caught up with us, then the errors caught up with us,” Anderson said. “You can’t do that, whoever you’re playing. We couldn’t stop the bleeding in those situations. We couldn’t get out of the inning.”

In the sixth inning, Southwest Baptist piled on a pair of insurance runs –– which became necessary –– on Halquist’s third RBI of the game, a double into left-center to score Ray, followed by a Graves RBI single to score Halquist.

Northwest gave itself a chance in the bottom of the seventh after Maher and Mark notched back-to-back singles with one out. Adams drilled an opposite-field triple off the right field wall to score both the runners, setting herself up at third base with one away as the potential tying run. However, freshman catcher Jessica Rawie struck out before Jones popped up to second to end the day and the Northwest streak.

“We know the fight’s there,” Anderson said. “The good thing is, we’ve created that in ourselves where at the beginning of the year, we had to fight for our wins. It’s great to see that fight back, but we dug the hole ourselves.”

Mark ended the day 3-of-6 at the plate with two runs scored. Blythe tallied a 3-for-6 day of her own while scoring a pair of runs and driving in another. Senior Abbie Vitosh started game two on the hill for Northwest, but lasted just three innings while sacrificing two runs, one earned. Junior Kendle Schieber replaced her to start the fourth inning, but allowed five runs, four earned, while tallying just eight outs.

Halquist went 3-for-5 for Southwest Baptist with two runs scored and three RBI in the doubleheader.

With Northwest standing at 7-7 after the split with Southwest Baptist, it now faces a 2 p.m. first pitch Tuesday for a doubleheader against Missouri Western in St. Joseph.

DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Bearcats sophomore third baseman Chantel Adams is out by half a step at third base after hitting a single into centerfield that was bobbled. However, Adams drove in a pair of runs with the first-inning hit in an eventual 7-6 loss to Southwest Baptist.

DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Sophomore second baseman Torri Blythe chops a single into the ground and through the hole between third base and shortstop to tally an RBI for Northwest during the fourth inning of game two Friday against Southwest Baptist. Northwest took game one, 2-1, before dropping the second leg, 7-6.

DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
After recovering from a bobbled ground ball, Northwest sophomore third baseman Chantel Adams launches a throw to first base to record the out during a 7-6 loss to Southwest Baptist.