It was apparent from the start that Monday’s SouthWest Suburban Conference softball game between Lockport and Lincoln-Way West was going to be a tight, low-scoring affair.

The wind was making the American flag in center field stick straight out from the pole, pointing straight toward home plate. Runs were going to be at a premium.

As it turns out, so were hits. At least for Lockport.

Lincoln-Way West’s Abby Brueggmann dominated the action from the circle. She allowed just one ball to be hit out of the infield, a fifth-inning flyout to center by losing pitcher Bridget Faut. She struck out four, induced 12 groundouts, two infield popups and a line drive to third that was turned into a double play.

The only threat to the no-hitter came in the top of the seventh. With one out, Brueggmann walked Addison Way. Sophia Hutera then hit a grounder back to Brueggmann, who turned to throw to second. Shortstop Reese Rourke charged toward the ball as it bounced past Brueggmann, fielded the throw, and fired to first, but Hutera beat that throw. The play was correctly ruled a fielder’s choice and kept the no-hitter intact. Brueggmann then got pinch-hitter Lindsay Dunagan to pop to third before Faut grounded into a fielder’s choice to second to end the game.

“In the seventh inning, I knew I had a no-hitter still going,” Brueggmann said. “About the fifth inning, I thought about it, but I had walked a few and I figured that one of those runners must have gotten a hit. It’s my second no-hitter this year. I threw one against Lincoln-Way Central in the WJOL Tournament.

“I threw a lot of off-speed stuff today and was able to throw it for strikes. It kept them off-balance and they didn’t get much solid contact.”

Throughout the season, the Warriors (22-6, 12-2) have made a habit of using their potent lineup to hit the ball a long way and score a lot of runs. Outside of Borchert’s home run and a double by Kaylea Armstrong, they weren’t able to do that, so they manufactured a few runs for Brueggmann early.

In the bottom of the second, Armstrong was hit by a pitch and Jess Noga walked. A sacrifice bunt by Brueggmann moved the runners to second and third before Borchert blooped a single to center to score Armstrong from third. Reegan Connolly followed with a squeeze bunt that scored Noga, and an errant throw to first allowed the runners to reach second and third. Reese Forsythe attempted another squeeze bunt, but Lockport first baseman Alexis Vander Tuuk threw out the runner at home. Paige Seivert then hit an infield single to second that scored Connolly for a 3-0 lead.

“With the wind blowing in so hard and having the lead early in the game, it was pretty comforting,” Brueggmann said. “It was nice to see that we can put up runs playing small ball against a good team, so now we can do that if we have to.

“It was good for us to bounce back from a loss to Lincoln-Way East last week. The teams in this conference are always tough, so you have to come to play every day.”

Faut nearly matched Brueggmann pitch for pitch. Except for the three-run second, the only run she allowed was a home run to center by Borchert leading off the fifth that cut through the wind and snuck over the fence.

“There’s always a chance a ball will go out, but I didn’t think one would today with this win,” Borchert said. “When I hit it, it felt really good, like I didn’t feel it at all. I knew it had a chance, but it really slowed down near the fence. It was an amazing feeling when it went out.

“The good thing about tonight was that we knew it wasn’t a day that we were going to hit a lot of home runs, so we scored in a different way.”

West coach Heather Novak was pleased with the way that not only the offense performed, but also Brueggmann and the defense.

“Abby did a great job in the circle,” Novak said. “To come back from a tough loss to Lincoln-Way East last week with a no-hitter against a tough opponent like Lockport is just amazing. Not only did Abby throw very well, but our defense made all of the plays.

“And, we were able to execute what we wanted to do at the plate. It shows the depth of our lineup. One through nine can do damage and someone is going to come through before the game is over.”