Because of postponements caused by weather, the Northwestern softball team’s schedule has been light over the past week.

Junior Emma Freeman handled the pitching and chipped in with a nice offensive contribution as Northwestern downed Palmerton 7-1.

Freeman threw a complete game against Palmerton, allowing just one earned run and three walks while striking out nine batters. At the plate, she collected a pair of singles and scored a run for the Tigers.

Ainsley Behler and Sam Boyer also had a pair of singles, and a run scored with Behler driving in a run with a sixth inning single.

Northwestern scored four runs in the top of the seventh to put the game away with the big blow coming from Abby Dunstan, who doubled to drive in two runs and later scored on a Palmerton error.

Northwestern is pounding the ball this season with a .340 team batting average and 56 runs scored. The Tigers have also launched five home runs with Dunstan leading the way with three and Freeman and freshman Natalie Conner both having one. Among players with 20 plate appearances or more, Dunstan is hitting .583 and is followed by Freeman (.522), Rylee McGinley (.500), and Conner (.423).

Freeman’s latest outing lowered her season ERA to 1.62 and Lizzie Diehl contributed a strong start earlier in the season against Bangor and has a 1.40 ERA.

Northwestern is averaging just over one error per game with a .956 team fielding percentage.

The Tigers lead the West Division by two games over Southern Lehigh and trail Notre Dame of Green Pond by one game for the best overall league record.

The next week has the Lady Tigers (5-0 Colonial, 6-1 overall) playing at home against Wilson (4-3, 4-4) and Salisbury (1-5, 4-5) and facing Pen Argyl (6-1, 7-2) and Palisades (4-1, 5-1) on the road.