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Story Highlights
- Northwest dropped two tight contests Saturday, losing 7-6 to East Central and 3-1 to Illinois Springfield.
- The games took place at Memorial Park in Bentonville, Ark. as a part of the Arkansas-Monticello 8-State Classic.
- The Bearcats finished their opening weekend with a record of 1-3. East Central moved to 3-4 while Illinois Springfield is now 3-1 on the year.

Game One Key Statistics (East Central 7, Northwest 6)
- Shortstop Rebecca Maher went 4-for-4 at the plate including three doubles. The freshman scored two runs and drove in three more.
- Stephanie Mark added two RBI and hit her third extra-base hit of the season.
- Torri Blythe led off the game with a single for the third straight time. The second baseman came around to score on Mark's sacrifice fly. She finished 2-for-4 with two runs.
- Starting pitcher Sarah Baldwin threw five innings, striking out six and walking four. The junior surrendered six runs on eight hits.
- Paige Blythe came in to relieve Baldwin, throwing the final 1.2 innings. The senior recorded one strikeout and gave up two hits.
- Catcher Jessica Rawie scored the remaining two runs for Northwest, walking twice.

Game One Key Innings
- Following Torri Blythe's leadoff single to center, Rebecca Maher moved her to third on a double to deep right field. Stephanie Mark drove in Blythe on a sacrifice fly and Maher scored on a wild pitch two batters later, giving the Bearcats an early 2-0 lead.
- After East Central closed the gap to 4-3 in fifth, the Bearcats extended the lead in their next at bat. Rawie opened the inning with a walk and moved to second two batters later on Blythe's single. Maher's third double of the day drove them both in, giving Northwest a 6-3 advantage.
- East Central tied the game at six in the sixth inning on a three run home run to left center.
- The Tigers walked off in the seventh with a bases loaded infield single.
  
Game Two Key Statistics (Illinois Springfield 3, Northwest 1)
- Kendle Schieber made her first start for the Bearcats, throwing a complete game. The junior struck out four and walked just one.
- For the second straight game, the Bearcats did not commit an error in the field.
- Torri Blythe had two singles, finishing the game 2-for-4 at the plate.
- Stephanie Mark scored the lone run for Northwest, capitalizing on an error by the UIS shortstop.
- Abigail Gilson drove in her first run as a Bearcat, going 1-for-3 with a single.
- The Bearcats matched UIS with six hits in the contest.

Game Two Key Innings
- The Prairie Stars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first after a leadoff walk came around to score.
- Northwest evened things out in the fourth when Abigail Gilson drove home Stephanie Mark.
- Centerfielder Baylee Scarbrough helped prevent a big inning in the sixth when she fielded a fly ball in deep center and threw out a runner trying to advance to third.
- The Prairie Stars scored the go ahead run in the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh on a two-out rally.
  
Up Next
- The Bearcats will head to Pittsburg, Kan. next weekend to take on Rockhurst and Arkansas Tech on both Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 21-22).