It was a little different this time.
Winning 10 of its last 12 games and finding momentum before the Big Ten Tournament, Northwestern softball was n a roll heading into a regular season finale with No. 10 Michigan. But in a three-game tilt, the Cats looked a little out of place, swept by a combined score of 27-5 this weekend.
Things kicked off Friday, when the Wildcats sent sophomore ace Amy Letourneau to the circle after notching her 20th win of the season last week. Letourneau allowed baserunners in each of the first three innings, culminating in a two-out RBI single from Michigan freshman Sierra Romero in the third. Northwestern’s first six batters were sat down, but fourth-inning singles from sophomores Anna Edwards and Andrea DiPrima scored Letourneau to knot things at 1-1.
Back-to-back hits from Wolverines Sara Driesenga and Lyndsay Doyle set the stage for junior Nicole Sappingfield, who slapped a single to left-center and scored Driesenga for the go-ahead run. Driesenga sealed the deal in the circle, inducing a Wildcat double play in the sixth and striking out two Cats in the seventh. The win gave the Wolverines their sixth straight Big Ten title.
Saturday wasn’t nearly as close, with Michigan slamming its way to a 16-1 run-rule victory behind a program-record 22nd homer from Romero in the first inning. A two-run double from Wolverine junior Caitlin Blanchard broke things open in the fourth, and Michigan added three more off home runs from sophomore Lauren Sweet and freshman Sierra Lawrence. The Wolverines scored seven unearned runs later in the game, while starting pitcher Haylie Wagner held Northwestern to just four hits.
After Michigan jumped out to an early lead Sunday, the Cats clawed back with a three-run homer from Letourneau in the third before the Wolverines scored five runs off long balls from Blanchard and senior Ashley Lane. Lane’s home run was a line drive that bounced off the top of the wall.
Letourneau’s occasional struggles with accuracy came back to bite her Sunday, as seven of Michigan’s nine runs came from walks or hit batswomen. Driesenga went again for Michigan for her second win in three days.
Despite a rough weekend, the Wildcats sit as the No. 5 seed in the Big Ten Tournament, which begins Thursday at Nebraska’s Bowlin Stadium. Northwestern comes in as the defending Tournament champion, having won it in 2008 before the tourney was suspended due to conference scheduling changes. The Cats will play the No. 12 seed, which will be either Penn State or Indiana.