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In the top of the first inning Tuesday, it seemed Northwestern would continue its good fortunes. The Wildcats scored eight runs off High Point pitcher Victoria Fortune, who was pressed into service because the Eagles’ top pitcher, Erica Frias, was not permitted to play on Tuesday due to disciplinary reasons.

But with everything seemingly going their way, the Wildcats suffered a serious setback when pitcher Victoria Hill, who singled home two runs, was injured sliding into third base during the first-inning rally. She watched the rest of the game from the bench with an ice pack on her ankle.

Instead of handing the ball to her ace with an 8-0 lead, Northwestern coach Tameka Paschal was forced to go beyond her three-player pitching rotation, giving the ball to senior second baseman Christina Hymes. Like Fortune, Hymes struggled under the circumstances. She walked 14 batters in the first inning and hit another as High Point scored 16 runs en route to a 28-13 victory.

‘‘My top pitcher, LaShawn Tolson got hurt last week, so Victoria pitched both games before [Tuesday],” Paschal said. ‘‘My third pitcher, Felipita Ramirez, has been sick and she wasn’t here. So, I had to throw Christina. She’s normally my second baseman and she hadn’t pitched before. Once you lose your pitcher, everything else changes. Against Bowie, I was never more proud of my team. They played great.”

Returning battery mates Frias and Jackie Chicas are typically High Point’s anchors, but Eagles’ coach Ricardo Hernandez would have been willing to accept the defeat against a vastly improved Northwestern team in order to send a message to the rest of his players. But the Eagles took advantage of facing an inexperienced pitcher.

‘‘I guess the softball gods were on my side. When I had heard what happened with Erica, I knew I had to sit her,” said Hernandez, whose team improved to 3-0 with previous victories against Parkdale and Charles H. Flowers. ‘‘It really wasn’t a tough decision. Victoria did a heck of a job. She had never pitched at the varsity level and I doubt she had thrown more than 30 pitches in our scrimmages. It was an ugly win, but I’ll take it.”

With Frias sitting on a bucket adjacent to the backstop, Northwestern jumped on Fortune with eight runs on two hits, five walks and two errors in the first inning. With one out and two on, Hill was carried off the field — later two teammates carried her from the bench to the parking lot — and suddenly the momentum shifted. Fortune retired two of the next three batters and then, after being given a 16-8 lead, retired the side in order in the second.

‘‘That’s a tough spot for anyone that has never pitched at this level,” Hernandez said. ‘‘We told her to just got out there and throw strikes and get outs. I didn’t care if the other team was getting hits. As soon as they put the ball in play, then we could get outs and get out of the inning. It’s a shame neither team had their pitcher. I was looking forward to a close 4-3 or 5-4 game. Next time we play them I’m sure it will be completely different. They held Bowie to four runs, so they must be OK.”

Paschal, who spent nine seasons as Bowie’s junior varsity coach before accepting the Northwestern job three years ago, realized Tuesday’s outing was hardly indicative of how her team can play.

‘‘When we scored eight runs in the first inning, I’m thinking we’re going to be OK,” Paschal said. ‘‘Then when Victoria got hurt and I didn’t have my other two pitchers. That was a tough spot to be in. Those first two games were so much different. They played great defensively. It was just unfortunate that Victoria got hurt.”

High Point senior shortstop Cheryl Savoy, Chicas, third baseman Mallory Amaya and center fielder Alyssa Cartlege each scored four times Tuesday, while Minnie Mekonen and Kristina Murphy added three runs each. Chicas, Amaya, Murphy, Moji Ogiefo and Fortune each walked twice and scored twice in the first inning.

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.