It's been a cold spring, but the Tigers' softball bats have been hot in three of their four games this season.

Northwestern is off to a 3-1 start and has scored 37 runs in four games this season.

"We had a hiccup against Palmerton," said first-year head coach Josh Zimmerman. "But [scoring runs] has been the rule rather than the exception."

The Tigers opened with a 13-run effort in a slugfest against Kutztown, winning 13-11. After committing six errors in a 6-2 loss to Palmerton, the Tigers beat Moravian Academy 11-0.

When the weather warmed for Monday's rivalry game against Northern Lehigh, Northwestern's bats were still smoking. The Tigers belted 14 hits in an 11-4 win over the Bulldogs.

Sunny Greenberg's two run homer highlighted the Northwestern's five-run fourth inning.

"It was great to get that hit but when you get 11 runs it's not just one person," said Greenberg, a senior and three-year starter at catcher. "This year, one through nine we've all been hitting. It's really been a team effort."

The Bulldogs got on the board first when Sage Hargreaves worked a one-out walk in the first inning to set up Taylor Herman's two-run home run over the center field fence.

Northwestern (3-1) didn't take long to answer. Lydia Danner and Brooke Wehr both singled and scored on Claire O'Dea's double before Northern Lehigh could record an out. O'Dea scored on a Greenberg single for a 3-2 first-inning lead.

The Tigers made it 4-2 in the second inning when Avery George singled and scored on an error.

The Bulldogs tied the game in the third inning. Kate Hoffman drew a walk before Tiffany Yesik and Hargreaves hit back to back singles, to score on run. Another came home on Amber Thomas' two-out single to knot the score at 4-4.

Two innings later, the host Tigers used a big fourth inning to break open the game.

George and Danner hit back to back singles. Wehr reached base on an error, scoring two runs for a 6-4 lead. O'Dea doubled to drive in Wehr and Greenberg capped the inning with a line shot over the center field fence to make it 9-4 in favor of the Tigers.

"We came in with the mindset that we wanted to be aggressive," said Northwestern head coach Josh Zimmerman. "We had a bunch of stolen bases, which really helps getting the girls into scoring position."

After the home run Bulldog pitcher Amber Thomas came in to relieve starter Kate Hoffman.

The Tigers got two runs off Thomas in the sixth. Danner reached base on an error. O'Dea and Greenberg each singled to load the bases before pinch hitter Alyssa Roda singled up the middle to drive in Danner and O'Dea.

"They hit the ball," said Northern Lehigh head coach Bob Hicks. "They were hitting us and they scored runs. We had some hits but we didn't string enough of them together."

The Bulldogs loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth on three singles by Paige Hemmingway, Shelbie Hyrowich and Hoffman.

But Tiger pitcher Danner was able to get out of the inning without harm.

"That was kind of a momentum killer," said Hicks.

"Lydia Danner does a phenomenal job for us," said Zimmerman. "Nothing seems to phase her. She goes in with the mindset that she's going to get the out no matter what. And more times than not she does it."

O'Dea and Greenberg each went 3-for-4 for the Northwestern, which saw six of it's 11 hitters record hits. Wehr reached base three times in the game and drove in four runs. Danner went 2-for-4 while reaching base three times and Avery George was 2-for-3.

The Tigers made the most of their 14 hits in the game.

"I thought we played really well today," said O'Dea. "We played as a team. Everyone contributed on the field. That really helped. We hit as a team. We didn't stagger our hits today."

Thomas had three hits for Northern Lehigh.

The Tigers are 2-1 in league play and have upcoming games against some of the league's top teams.

They faced East Division-leading Bangor (3-0) on Wednesday (after Press deadline) and were scheduled to take on Salisbury (2-0) Friday and Southern Lehigh (3-0) on Monday.

The Falcons and Spartans are the only teams ahead of the Tigers in the West Division standings.