The Northwestern College softball team swept Viterbo to open the 2021 season in the long-awaited return to the diamond after a near 11-month off-season. Northwestern defeated the V-Hawks 4-2 in game one and emerged with a 14-2, five-inning win in game two.
Samantha Ubben (1-0) struck out 10 and allowed one run in leading her team to the win in game one. Ubben finished one shy of matching her career high in strikeouts and allowed just six hits and two walks in a 92-pitch, six-inning effort. Kameryn Etherington gave up one run in the seventh.
Northwestern totaled five hits, two from Madysn Grotewold, who plated two runs and drove in one off an RBI triple in the bottom of the first inning. Jennifer Boeve, Bri Giordano and Erika McKenney all had one hit each for the Raiders.
The Raiders scored two in the bottom of the first when Emily Bosch led off with a walk and came across home plate on a triple by Grotewold, who scored when Boeve singled in the next at-bat. Head Coach Shane Bouman’s squad scored the eventual winning run in the third when Giordano singled, advance to second on the throw, stole third and scored off a passed ball. Northwestern’s final run came in the fifth when Grotewold singled and came all the way around to score on a Viterbo error off a ball hit by Boeve.
Viterbo was led by Karissa Walsh and Caitlin Brown with two hits each. Brooklyn Ottelien (0-1) took the loss, giving up five hits and three earned runs in six innings.
Bouman’s squad hit three home runs and compiled 14 hits in a 14-2, five-inning blowout win in game two. Bosch, Etherington and Sydney Johnson all went yard off Viterbo pitcher Caitlyn Almberg (0-1) and Erika McKenney went 3-for-4 with a run scored and four RBI.
The Raiders scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the first when Bosch reached base on a Viterbo error, stole second, advanced to third off a bunt from Grotewold and came around to score after a groundout by Boeve. Bri Giordano then hit a two-out single and scored on a double by McKenney.
Northwestern blew the game open with a six-run second inning where they sent 10 batters to the plate. Bosch and Etherington both hit two-run home runs and McKenney hit another RBI double. The Raiders scored a single run in the third and finished off their scoring with five runs in the fourth. Johnson came up in a pinch-hitting role and drove a 0-1 pitch over the centerfield fence for a two-run home run. Boeve and McKenney had RBI singles in the inning as well.
Etherington (1-0) earned her first win as a Red Raider, limiting Viterbo to just two hits an one unearned run. The freshman struck out six. Sydnee Isom pitched the final inning for the Raiders.
