Softball Game Preview: Northwestern Tigers vs. Ladysmith Lumberjacks

Northwestern is 9-0-1 against Ladysmith since May of 2017 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Thursday. The Tigers will head out to square off against the Lumberjacks at 5:00 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Northwestern has nine straight wins, Ladysmith has 14 straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

Northwestern is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. Everything went their way against Cumberland on Tuesday as they made off with an 18-4 victory. The result was nothing new for the Tigers, who have now won seven matches by seven runs or more so far this season.

Ellie Peterson

Batters Struck Out

05/13/25 vs Cumberland	9
05/12/25 vs Hayward	9
05/10/25 @ Barron	12
05/08/25 vs Barron	18
05/07/25 vs Cameron	9
+ 5 more games

Ellie Peterson made a splash while hitting and pitching. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts any time she's pitched this season. She was also big at the plate, going 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Ashlyn Sutherland, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. That's the most hits she has posted since back in April. Emma Wennersten also deserves some recognition as she hit her first doubles of the season.

Northwestern kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive games.

Ladysmith couldn't beat Barron on Tuesday even though they stacked five runs on them in the sixth inning. The Lumberjacks came up short against the Golden Bears, falling 16-10.

Northwestern pushed their record up to 13-2 with the win, which was their eighth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 7.6 runs over those games. As for Ladysmith, their loss dropped their record down to 0-14.