Northwestern College softball traveled down to Batesville, Arkansas this past weekend. The Raiders went 1-3 to start off preseason play. The weekend started off slow for the Red Raiders, dropping a double-header to the host team of Lyon College. The Scots proved to be great competition for the Raiders, now going 6-0 on the season and receiving votes in the NAIA rankings.
Unfortunately for the Raiders, two of the scheduled games for Friday were canceled due to rain. However, the team didn’t let the cancellation keep them from getting work in. Thanks to the gracious coaches at Lyon, the women were able to take advantage of an indoor facility and get in some batting and fielding practice despite the rain.
Saturday morning, the Raiders were ready to redeem themselves in the third matchup of the weekend against the Scots. NW fought hard in 30-degree weather, but in the end, the Scots came away with the third straight win against the Raiders.
However, not all was lost for the Raiders. Sophomore pitcher Emma Schnell came out ready to play. In her complete game win, she gave up only seven hits, struck out four and did not walk a single batter. She proved to be a threat on the other side of the game as well by blasting a three-run double to spur the NW offense past Lindenwood-Belleville University of Illinois.
Though it was a tough first outing for the Red Raiders, there was an upside to the weekend. Coach Shane Bouman received his first win as head coach of the NW softball program.
“Coach Bouman has been preparing us well for this season. We are so excited to see what this season has in store,” senior Amber Schubert said.
The Red Raiders are back in action Friday, Feb. 22 at Presentation College in Aberdeen, South Dakota The softball team is also gearing up for 11 games on their spring break to Tuscon, Arizona, where they will finally be seeing some warmer weather. Their first home double-header is scheduled for March 16 against Dakota Wesleyan University.
