Bearcats halt Western streak before settling with split
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Northwest sophomore center fielder Cassidy Lee, a slap hitter, scurries to the front of the box to time a pitch Tuesday during game one of a doubleheader against No. 17 Missouri Western. The Bearcats captured a 9-6 win in the first leg before falling in game two, 2-0.
Freshman shortstop Rebecca Maher skipped from the middle of the diamond toward the dugout, high-fiving teammates and celebrating what was arguably Northwest softball’s biggest victory of the season.
Unfortunately for head coach Ryan Anderson and the Bearcats, the jubilant feelings didn’t last all afternoon. After they bounced back in the late innings to take a 9-6 win in game one against No. 17 Missouri Western Tuesday, the Griffons answered by shutting out Northwest’s offense to come out on top in game two, 2-0, to force a split.
“We’ve seen glimpses of this,” Anderson said. “I told (the players) after the game that when we decide to swing the bat, we can play tough. When we sit back and take pitches and take pitches, we struggle to score, we struggle to hit. We’re a completely different team when we’re aggressive going after things. I hope they can learn from today. Really, game one was a good win for us.”
Despite the offensive swoon to end the day, Northwest (14-16, 7-5) toppled one of the top teams in the country to provide itself with a momentum boost as the season enters its final third.
“It felt really good, especially against Missouri Western,” sophomore outfielder Cassidy Lee said. “They’re such a good team. It’s definitely a confidence-booster for us, too, since we’ve kind of been struggling. Beating a team like that lets us know that we can do it and it’s there, we just need to put it together.”
Missouri Western, which entered with a 16-game win streak, started the doubleheader with a run in the top of the first inning when sophomore Morgan Rathmann scored on a passed ball out of the hand of Bearcats junior starter Sarah Baldwin.
The lead didn’t last long, as Northwest tallied six unanswered runs in the first, second and third innings. Maher singled to center to score sophomore second baseman Torri Blythe in the first, followed by a sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore third baseman Chantel Adams to score Lee.
Junior left fielder Kendle Schieber, who was named MIAA Pitcher of the Week Tuesday, walloped a solo home run to left-center field in the second. Lee notched an infield hit to score junior designated hitter Madison Jones before Maher brought home Blythe again, this time on a single to the right side. Adams swatted her third dinger in four games in the third inning to stretch the lead to 6-1.
However, the Griffons’ offense found a spark in the fifth inning, scoring three runs to draw within two.
The final run of the inning came on a ground ball up the middle –– as Maher reached out for it, she came up empty, but bumped a baserunner heading toward second. Although sophomore second baseman Ashley Wilcoxson made the force out at second, which should’ve ended the inning, Maher’s contact was ruled interference. The call allowed designated hitter Paige Shifflett to score from third base.
“That hurt. I still don’t think it was a good call because our girl was making a play,” Anderson said. “Anywhere else on the field, you let some defensive player make a play and the offensive player runs around them. Apparently not there.”
In the top of the sixth, Missouri Western knotted things up at 6-6 on an error from Maher that allowed Rathmann to score, followed by a double off the bat of Shifflett to bring senior Tiffany Gillaspy home.
But, Northwest’s bats came up clutch in the bottom half of the inning to secure the win. Jones singled to start the frame before freshman catcher Jessica Rawie drew a walk. Wilcoxson bunted the runners to second and third, which brought Lee to the plate with one down. Her shot hit at Gillaspy at second base forced a miscue, as the ball rolled into the outfield to bring Jones in.
Just two batters later, with senior first baseman Stephanie Mark at the plate, a wild pitch from Griffon Taylor Schaben allowed both Lee and Rawie to tap home.
“It’s always motivation playing them anyway just because they’re always good and they’re our rival and everything,” Lee said. “But considering they’d been on a 16-game winning streak, that makes us want to beat them even more.”
Bearcat senior southpaw Paige Blythe (3-3), who took over for Baldwin during the troublesome top of the sixth, picked up the win. She allowed just one hit and zero runs during her 1.1 innings on the hill. Baldwin posted 5.2 innings, giving up seven hits and six runs, although only one was earned.
Game two turned out to be significantly less eventful, as Missouri Western junior pitcher Shyanne Saladino limited the Bearcats to just one hit in a complete-game shutout while walking two and striking out five.
“We hit decent the first game, and then it was almost like we became too selective in the batter’s box,” Anderson said. “We’re looking for that perfect pitch instead of just, ‘OK, they’re throwing strikes so I’m going to hit it someplace.’ We got behind in a lot of counts and it hurt us. We couldn’t dig ourselves out of that hole.
“Two runs shouldn’t beat us.”
Schieber got the ball for Northwest, spinning seven innings of her own while giving up just four hits. However, two of the knocks were solo round-trippers in the fourth inning, which proved to be the difference. Gillaspy led off the frame with a bomb to left, followed by Shifflett’s line-drive over the center-field wall shortly after.
Schieber’s conference selection Tuesday as its pitcher of the week underscores the job she’s done recently in the second spot for the Bearcats. In her last four appearances, including against Missouri Western, she’s tossed 20.1 innings while sacrificing just two runs.
“I feel pretty good,” Schieber said. “The defense has been playing really well, and that’s a huge confidence thing, knowing they’re behind me. … Just hitting your spots and knowing your defense is going to make the play is huge.”
At the plate, Lee finished the day 2-for-7 with two runs scored and two RBI. Maher tallied two hits in six at-bats while driving in a pair of runs.
After stealing a game from one of the hottest teams in the MIAA, the Bearcats will play a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Friday at Nebraska-Kearney.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Sophomore right fielder Baylee Scarbrough takes a hack at a pitch from Missouri Western junior pitcher Janie Smith. Scarbrough and Northwest notched a game one victory, 9-6, ending the Griffons’ 16-game win streak.
DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Bearcat junior starter Sarah Baldwin slings a pitch in the first inning of a 9-6 win against No. 17 Missouri Western Tuesday. The victory halted a 16-game Griffon win streak. Baldwin tallied 5.2 innings on the mound, allowing six runs, although just one was earned.
