Through its first eight games of the season, the Northwestern Lehigh softball team didn’t appear to be the well oiled machine that it usually is.

Perhaps it was the colder weather and rain that hampered the Tigers practice schedule coming into the season, but they got off to a 5-3 start. Most teams would be happy, but the Tigers expected more.

Their current eight game winning streak is more like what they were looking for, and it has pushed their record to 13-3 and locked up another trip to districts. Being 12-1 in league games has also given them a spot in the Colonial League playoffs.

The Tigers won a pair of games this weeks by a combined score of 33-1.

They traveled to Jim Thorpe and beat the Olympians 17-0 and then hosted Lehighton and downed them 16-1.

A game scheduled for this past Saturday at Northern Lehigh was rained out and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4 p.m.

In the 17-0 win, it took just two innings to put up the 17 runs.

Four of those runs came in the top of the first when Natalie Conner drove in a run with an RBI single and Sam Boyer later singled to drive in two runs. Molly Schlofer added a groundout that added another run in the inning.

Pitcher Emma Freeman gave up a two-out single in the first but got three groundball outs to make quick work of Jim Thorpe in the bottom of the inning.

In the second inning, Freeman singled to drive in a run and Conner then walked to load the bases.

Abby Dunstan nailed a line drive to center field to make it a 9-0 lead for the Tigers. Ainsley Behler followed with a double and Schlofer singled to put runners on second and third and still, there were no outs.

An error brought home Behler to make it 10-0. Thorpe then got the first out of the inning, but before it got another out Northwestern scored seven more runs for a 13-run inning and a 17-0 lead.

Freeman threw two shutout innings and Behler threw a clean bottom of the third to finish the game, which was stopped after three innings because of the 15-run rule.

Ella Bressi and Behler both had three hits in the game with Bressi, Conner and Dunstan all scoring three runs in the game.

Against Lehighton, the first 17 pitches that Northwestern hitters saw were balls resulting in a 1-0 lead.

After a pitching change, Behler drove a ball to left that was caught, but deep enough to score Freeman from third. Singles by Schlofer and Sam Boyer made it 4-0 after one.

While Dunstan had a big day against the Olympians, she had an even bigger day against Lehighton.

In the second inning, Lizzie Diehl doubled and after Bressi walked. Conner walked and for the second time in as many games, Dunstan came up with the bases loaded and emptied them with another grand slam.

Dunstan also had added a two-run double to finish with seven RBI in the game. Diehl had three hits, two of which were doubles, and Dunstan, Behler, Schlofer, and Boyer all had two hits in the win.

The final week of the season will be a busy one for the Lady Tigers. The rainout gives them four games in five days to finish out the regular season.

They play at Lehighton and Northern Lehigh, host Jim Thorpe, and then play at Palmerton Friday to end their regular season schedule.