On Friday, Northwestern head coach Len Smith watched his team suffer its first defeat of the year to Colonial League foe Southern Lehigh.

Monday, Smith witnessed the Tigers play arguably their best game of the season.

Led by pitcher Josh Williamson's no hitter, Northwestern dominated rival Northern Lehigh to earn a 12-0 win in a contest that lasted five innings.

"This was a big bounce back game for us," said Smith. "After losing on Friday, I wasn't sure how we were going to respond to that.

"But the kids bounced back. We want to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases trying to force them to make mistakes. And when you get an effort like that from Josh on the mound, it makes it easy."

Williamson kept Northern Lehigh off balance from the outset. The senior finished the game with seven strikeouts and three walks, two of which were issued to Zachary Rex.

Despite an electric performance, Williamson was quick to praise his team for its support both at the plate and in the field.

"When your offense produces 12 runs and your defense plays great, it's easy to get the win," Williamson said. "It's fun when you're playing like this."

"Our goal was to just win every inning and put some runs on the board. I was able to let the defense do the work behind me, and we did a great job of scoring runs, which always helps."

Offensively, the Tigers (4-1) were efficient at the plate, scoring their 12 runs on nine hits while also drawing four walks.

Northwestern opened a 2-0 advantage following the first after Tyler Schreiner's RBI single scored Jake Augustus. Schreiner scored two batters later on an error, the first of several for the Bulldogs (1-2).

The Tigers added a run in the second and two in the third for a 5-0 lead before blowing the game open in the fourth inning.

What started as a one-out infield single by Brady Mengel turned into a seven run inning that put the game out of reach for Northern Lehigh.

Following Mengel's single, Augustus drew a walk. Smith's aggressive strategy was immediately on display as Mengel and Augustus moved to second and third on a double steal.

Schreiner followed with another walk to load the bases, and an error allowed Nick Rodriguez to reach base while Augustus and Mengel scored to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.

After Northern Lehigh starter Chad Cederberg struck out Williamson, Northwestern again took advantage of more Bulldog miscues. Designated hitter Jordan Storm reached on an error that allowed Schreiner to score.

Storm later came around to score, as did left fielder Niko Fager, who also reached on an error.

The scoring came to a close when the Tigers batted around with catcher Tyler Wiik scorching a two-run single for the final 12-0 tally.

Augustus finished the game 2-for-2 with two singles, a walk and three runs scored. Storm also recorded two singles while scoring two runs. Rodriguez and Schreiner scored two runs apiece.

While Northern Lehigh struggled in the field, the Tigers had no such issues, playing an error-free five innings.

"We feel we're pretty solid in the middle and up the middle," Smith said. "I think it makes his job on the mound that much easier knowing that he has someone behind him that will back him up.

"Hopefully, we can put all those things together and keep getting better as we go along."