ROSEMONT, Ill. – Purdue Northwest (4-1) split Saturday's doubleheader at the DII Midwest Region Crossover, including a 3-1 win over William Jewell and a 3-0 setback against McKendree. With the win, PNW has tied its best start to a season through the first five games in the DII era with the 2018 team.
GAME 1: McKENDREE 3, PNW 0
In the first game, both teams managed just five hits apiece in a pitching duel between
Abbie May (LaSalle, Ill./Saint Bede Academy) and McKendree's Ellie Quaethem. Queathem (3-2) recorded the shutout win with 12 strikeouts and only allowed two runners to reach second base. May (1-1) was solid in key spots, including the fourth inning when she fought her way out of a jam with no outs and two runners in scoring position. She finished five-and-a-third with three strikeouts and six walks.
McKendree finally broke through with a run in the fifth and two in the sixth after the leadoff batter in each of those innings reached safely. The Bearcats got an RBI single in the fifth to break the scoreless tie and then a PNW fielding error opened the bottom of the sixth for McKendree to set up a two-run double.
Sophomore catcher
Kelsi Dillon (Braidwood, Ill./Reed-Custer (Georgian Court)) went 3 for 3 (career-high) at the plate while senior third baseman
Madison Schultz (Lafayette, Ind./Faith Christian) had the other two hits.
GAME 2: PNW 3, WILLIAM JEWELL 1
Allison Arnold (Tucson, Ariz./Naperville North) homered in the first inning, her second long ball of the season, and the Pride added a run in each of the fifth and sixth innings to move past the Cardinals.
That was all the support that starter
Emma Hill (Holmes Beach, Fla./Cary-Grove (IL)) (1-0) needed for her first career win. The junior right-hander spun a gem, striking out eight batters and allowing one run on six hits and three walks.
The Cards threatened with back-to-back singles in their final at-bat, but Hill slammed the door with a ground out and strikeout to seal the victory.
Arnold added a single to finish 2 for 3 at the plate.
Ashley Bravo (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) doubled while
Selena Michko (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central),
Montana Martinez (Calumet City, Ill./Thornton Fractional South),
Briana Poehler (Mattoon, Ill./Mattoon) and Hill each chipped in with a single.
Poehler came through with a pinch-hit RBI single in the sixth. The Pride broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth when
Jocey Gault (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) drew a bases-loaded walk following Bravo's ground-rule double down the left field line.
William Jewell's Kenzie Jones (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 K, 1 BB) was charged with the loss in the circle.
UP NEXT
PNW closes out the opening weekend of play with Sunday morning's matchup against Hillsdale. First pitch is slated for 8 a.m. at The Rosemont Dome.
