A day after advancing to their first championship round of the NCAA Regional Final, the McNeese Cowgirls came up short falling Sunday afternoon to the Northwestern Wildcats 10-2 in the Evanston Regional.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Northwestern plated a run in the bottom of the first on a single up the middle by Maeve Nelson. The Lady Wildcats struck again by scoring four more runs in the bottom of the third.
McNeese got on the board in the top of the fourth.
Kaylee Lopez hit a one-out double to center field and was joined on the base paths two batters later after Chloe Gomez was hit by a pitch. A single by Reese Reyna then loaded the bases for the Cowgirls.
Toni Perrin hit a single into center field which scored Alayis Seneca, who was pinch running for Lopez.
Northwestern responded in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run home run by Rachel Lewis and then a two-run home run by Angela Zedak.
McNeese added another run in the top of the fifth on a RBI single by Lopez but that is all the Cowgirls could muster.
BIG NUMBER: 6
McNeese stranded a total of six runners on the base paths in Sunday’s championship round.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: KAYLEE LOPEZ
McNeese’s left fielder-pinch hitter had a big day at the plate as she went 3-for-3 with 1 RBI and a double.