An RBI single by Emma Schnell with two outs in the top of eighth inning lifted Northwestern past Dordt 4-3 in game two of a conference doubleheader played Wednesday at Open Space Park in Sioux Center, Iowa. The Red Raiders won game one 6-4 and earned a sweep over the Defenders, earning their ninth straight win. Northwestern improves to 7-1 in the conference, 22-5 overall.
Schnell led the Red Raiders at the plate in game two, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and the game-winning RBI. The freshman was also the winning pitcher, capturing her 11th straight win and improving to 11-1 on the year. Schnell held the Dordt bats in check, limiting the hosts to seven hits, one earned run while striking out 10.
Down 3-2 heading into the seventh, the Red Raiders tied it when Katie Elliott led off with a single and pinch runner Calli Shaw then stole second and later scored off an RBI single by Jessica Sandbulte. Tied at three in the eighth, Jensen Boger roped a single to centerfield, moved up to second on a ball hit by Cheyenne Wilcke and came around to score the game-winner on the single by Schnell.
Northwestern totaled 11 hits off Defenders’ game two starter Tianna Top, who dropped to 3-7 on the season. Elliott went 2-for-4 with an RBI while six Red Raiders had one hit each. Kayla Tindall homered in her fourth straight game, hitting a solo shot to lead off the fourth inning.
Dordt mustered seven hits in game two, led by Corinne May with an RBI double and two runs scored. The Defenders led 3-1 after four innings but Elliott belted a double that scored Schnell from first in the top of the fifth to make it 3-2.
Tindall pitched the Red Raiders to a 6-4 win in game one, allowing seven hits and striking out two in improving to 10-3 on the season. The senior added a two-run home run in the sixth inning and Amanda Everhart went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, including a two-run single in the top of the seventh top put Northwestern up 6-1.
Dordt rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run at the plate but Tindall forced Jessica Oules into a groundout to end the game.
Coach Nachtigall’s squad totaled nine hits in game one, two for Everhart and one hit each by seven different Red Raiders. Wilcke hit her team-leading eighth home run with a leadoff shot in the fifth.
Madison Beaver opened the game with a triple and scored on a single by Everhart. Dordt came back to tie it with a run in the fourth but Northwestern grabbed the lead for good on Wilcke’s home run in the fifth and then added a pair of runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings.
Rachel Evavold (4-3) took the loss for Dordt, giving up nine hits, six runs and striking out four. Marissa VandenBerg led the Defenders with three hits and one run.
