For two Northwestern players, frustration led to determination, and ultimately, success.

The success came at a great time for their team as well because it finished off a wild, long delayed game against Nazareth that ended in a 15-14 walk-off win in nine innings for the Tigers Wednesday on their home field.

Lizzie Diehl had unexpectedly been called on to get a bunt down lately and didn’t come through. Ainsley Behler had come to the plate in a key spot recently and didn’t come through.

Both players felt the frustration that came with those failures, but they were ready for better results when their next opportunity came along.

“Lizzie has been in a tricky spot because in the last couple of games she has come up in a spot where bunting has been crucial. I know she was a little bit frustrated with herself for not being able to capitalize, and today was her day,” said Northwestern coach Kate Farber.

“Ainsley came up the inning or two innings earlier and we had bases loaded with one out. All she had to do was put the ball in the outfield and we tag and walk it off, but she wasn’t able to do that, so she was frustrated.”

The successes came in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied.

Abby Dunstan led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a wild pitch. On a 1-1 pitch, Diehl squared around and dropped a perfectly placed bunt to move Dunstan to third with one out. Next up was Behler, and she wasted little time coming through when she grounded a 1-0 pitch into left field to easily score Dunstan with the winning run.

“I didn’t really even feel myself make contact. All I felt was my heart beating,” said Behler.

“I just thought ‘someone’s on third and that ball just went through the infield.’ I kept telling myself that there’s only one out, so there’s someone after me, so just relax; it’s not a big deal.”

For Diehl, her job was helped by the fact that Farber stresses fundamental things like bunting.

“We start all of our rounds in the cage with bunting, just in case the situation arises, so that we’ll be ready. We work on those things so that in a big situation like this we’re ready for it,” said the senior. “You help your team out and do what the situation calls for, and we got it done.”

Wednesday’s game started 12 days earlier on March 20, with part of the game being played in a light rain. If not for all the offense in the game, it would have been completed before heavier rain began to fall.

Instead, the rain hit around the fourth inning. Nazareth scored four runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 14-10 lead. With the rain coming down harder, finishing the fifth inning would have made the game official unless the score was tied.

Northwestern didn’t tie the game, but did score three runs, the first on a bases-loaded walk, a second on a wild pitch, and the third on a passed ball to make it 14-13 with runners on second and third and two outs.

At that point, puddles were starting to form, and the field was too slick to continue, so the game was suspended.

When it resumed on Wednesday, Lily Kinnon came through with an RBI single to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.

Earlier in the game, the teams battled to hang onto a lead. Nazareth went up 2-0 after one, Northwestern was up 3-2 after two and then trailed 4-3 going to the bottom of the third when it tied the game.

A six-run fourth put the Eagles up 10-4, and the Tigers matched the six runs with six of their own to again tie the game.

Nazareth got four in the top of the fifth, and Northwestern came back with three in the bottom of the inning.

Nazareth had two grand slam home runs in the game in back-to-back innings. Still, Northwestern continued to fight back and matched Nazareth’s production.

Natalie Conner homered for the Tigers earlier. When the game ended, seven different Northwestern players had driven in at least one run, and there were also seven who had scored at least one run.

Thanks to the rough weather in the first attempt to play the game, 13 of the 29 runs scored were unearned.

SOME WEIRD NUMBERS ... If you didn’t know the game had a 12-day delay, you would have to wonder about some things. First, Emma Freeman was credited with 205 pitches, 122 of which were for strikes. Two Nazareth pitchers combined to throw 220 pitches.

Nazareth 202 640 000 - 14 15 5

N’western 031 630 101 - 15 13 3

Kauffman, Grover (3) and Ryan, Flynn (8); Freeman and Dunstan. HR: Nazareth - Friel 2, Zin; Northwestern - Conner.

Records: Nazareth (3-3); Northwestern (4-1).