Northwestern Lehigh didn’t put together its usual dominating performance on Monday.

However, the Tigers did all the right things offensively, defensively, and with their pitching to get a 5-2 win over rival Northern Lehigh in Colonial League softball.

Pitcher Emma Freeman wasn’t as dominating as usual, as she allowed a runner into scoring position in each of the five innings that she pitched.

The key was that between Freeman’s pitching and solid defensive plays, the Bulldogs weren’t able to bring those runners in as often as they would have liked.

In the first inning, Freeman got a ground ball right back to her to get out of the jam, while the second inning was a grounder to third where Sam Boyer just had to field the ball and step on third to force the runner.

In the third, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners, and a sacrifice fly from Addie Smith got the first run of the game for Northern Lehigh to make it a 2-1 score.

Some strong defense did the trick in the fourth when a ground ball to Boyer at third was played easily to first for the second out of the inning and as Savannah Kast broke for home, first baseman Molly Schlofer fired home to get Kast at the plate.

In the fifth, Freeman gave up a leadoff double to Kenzie Chrusical, and then easily set down the next three hitters.

Northwestern had taken a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second. With runners on second and third, Lily Kinnon hit a grounder back to the circle that brought in one run and Boyer followed with a line drive to right that rolled for a triple.

“I knew I had a runner on base, and I really wanted to drive in runs to set a tone early in the game,” said Boyer. “I got in the box and saw a pitch that I knew I could really drive, and I was able to get a triple out of it and bring in a run.”

After the Bulldogs got their third-inning run, Northwestern followed with two in the bottom of the inning. It started with a one-out single by Freeman and an RBI double by Natalie Conner that made it 3-1. Ainsley Behler then hit a grounder to second that brought in another tally for a 4-1 lead.

Kinnon led off the sixth with a single to left and went to second on a sacrifice from Boyer. Avery Seyler put runners on the corner with a single, and Ella Bressi added an insurance run with a ground ball through the middle for an RBI single and a 5-1 lead.

“We played well against a good team, and I was happy to see some of the plays that we made,” said Nolehi coach Dan Caruso. “When I got here, I emphasized defense and since our first game of the season, we haven’t made an error. Aubrey (third baseman Aubrey Reinhard) made that play at third and looked the runner back at second, and we ended up getting the double play on that ball.

“In the past, she doesn’t freeze the runner like that. I told her that’s the kind of thing that really good teams do.”

Behler pitched the final two innings and gave up an unearned run, but didn’t allow any hits or walks and struck out five.

“She gives us a little different look,” said Tiger coach Kate Farber of Behler, who is a junior. “She’s a lefty, and she’s got some good velocity and gets a lot of movement on her ball. She is just a totally different look than Emma or Lizzie (Diehl).”

OH, SNAP! ... After a 3-0 loss to Palmerton to open the season, the Bulldogs had a four-game winning streak going in which they outscored their opponents 46-19. The loss to Northwestern snapped that streak. They come right back today with a trip to Lehighton to take on the Indians, who are 4-3 in the Colonial League.

Northern Lehigh 001 000 1 - 2 7 0

Northwestern 022 001 x - 5 10 2

Simms and Gad; Freeman, Behler (6) and Dunstan. W - Freeman. L - Simms.

Records: Northern Lehigh (4-2; 4-2); Northwestern (5-2; 4-0).