The Northwestern softball team was starting its number two pitcher Tuesday afternoon at Saucon Valley High School. What better to give her confidence than putting up a ton of runs and letting her relax out on the mound.

And that is exactly what happened. The Tigers scored nine runs in the top of the first inning and gave freshman Emily Akelaitis a nice cushion to work with before ever even throwing a pitch.

She threw a complete game and pick up the victory. Northwestern beat Saucon Valley 12-1 in a five-inning game.

“We knew coming into this year that our offense was going to be one of our strong points,” said head coach Josh Zimmerman. “We’ve been talking to the girls a lot since preseason about jumping out on teams early. It’s a lot easier on our pitchers when they have that cushion to work with. As long as we keep that pedal-down mentality I think we’ll be all right.”

Lydia Danner got the Tigers on the board as the leadoff hitter in the top of the first inning. The senior walked, stole second and advanced on an errant throw that wounded up in center field. She scored on a wild pitch for the first run of the game.

Northwestern (2-1 overall, 2-0 Colonial League) batted around in the inning. Eleven batters reached base, including seven via hits. Ellen Marie Smith, Jessica Badman, Akelaitis, Danner, Avery George and Kaitlyn Bowers all had RBI hits during the frame.

After seeing her team go out and put nine runs on the board, Akelaitis allowed just four hits in five innings, giving up just one run and striking out four for her first varsity win of her career.

“Emily had a little bit of a rough outing last Saturday [against Tamaqua],” Zimmerman ed. “So we wanted to get her right back out there as quick as possible and get her confidence back. When her teammates come out and rally behind her it is nice to see because she can be relaxed when she goes out to pitch.”

After going three innings without scoring a run, the Tigers wanted to get out of Hellertown a little early.

Danner, George, Wehr, Bowers and Alyssa Cinquemani all reached base and put up three more runs in Northwestern’s fifth inning. The ten-run rule was then put into effect with three quick outs in the bottom of the frame.

It was the Tigers’ second win of the season. They defeated league foe Southern Lehigh in the season opener last week then lost a nonleague to Tamaqua Saturday.

“We’re feeling really good,” said Zimmerman. “But at the same time we’re trying to stay as grounded as possible. The season is long, and you’re going to face adversity along the way. It’s all about how you’re going to bounce back from that.”