BELLEVUE – Northwest used a stellar pitching performance and a walk-off grounder to take two games from Providence on Friday, 4-3 and 8-7.
Natalie Dimitrov took a perfect game into the seventh inning before getting her ninth win. She allowed three runs on three hits and two errors in the seventh but got out of the inning with the Eagles still leading.
Northwest scored a run in the second on an RBI single by
Cedella Ritchie.
Jamelah Lewis scored on a fielder's choice on a double-steal attempt to make it 2-0. NU went up 4-0 on an RBI ground out by
Kayla Stanley in the third.
Madisyn Leffle scored on an error in the fifth.
NU had seven hits, led by Leffle with two and a double by
Olivia Brown.
The Eagles trailed on three different occasions in the second game. Mangold gave UP a 1-0 lead in the first but Leffle singled and stole second and third before scoring on a sacrifice fly by
Sydney Maurer.
Carter Thornton delivered a 2-1 UP lead in the second with a solo home run but NU came up with three runs in the third on an RBI double by Maurer, an RBI single by
Paige Creasey and an RBI double by
Bella King.
Taylor Matthews had an RBI double during a three-run fifth inning for Providence to take a 5-4 lead, but the Eagles on an RBI ground out from King to even the score.
Providence scored two more runs in the top of the sixth, but Creasey singled home two runs in the sixth.
With runners at second and third and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, Leffle got King home from third ahead of a tag at the plate.
Dimitrov got the win in relief in the second game to become to first NU pitcher to reach 10 wins.
The Eagles had 14 hits, led by Creasey with three. Leffle, Stanley, King and
Chloe Van Boekhout had two hits each.
NU sends off its three seniors: Maurer, Leffle and Creasey, with the final home doubleheader against Providence, starting at noon. Retiring Head Coach Pam Fink will be recognized between games.
"We got good pitching, timely hitting and a great start to Senior Weekend," Fink said.
The sweep gives Northwest its first 20-win season and positioned the Eagles one game ahead of Carroll College for the final postseason berth with four conference games left.
