Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Utah (Hawaii Invitational)
'Cats Throttle Utah 12-3 at Hawaii Invite
3/20/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 20, 2004
HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Northwestern certainly didn't feel any negative effects from jet lag after 14 hours of travel Thursday, throttling the Utah Utes 12-3 in its first game of the Hawaii Invitational Friday in Honolulu, Hawaii, behind the 'Cats' best power outing of the season.
Eryn Manahan, Kristen Amegin and Garland Cooper all blasted homeruns for the Wildcats.
Manahan started the power party in the fifth with a three-run shot before Amegin added a solo homer to open up an 8-1 NU lead. Amegin has followed all three of Manahan's homeruns this season with bombs of her own. Cooper added her solo shot in the sixth. The three round-trippers were a game-high for the Wildcats this year.
Northwestern (13-4) added three more runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach. With the bases full of 'Cats, Erin Mobley shot a single to center, plating Jenny Glonke and Katie Logan. Carri Leto then trotted home on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 12-2.
NU wasted no time in jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. With 'Cats on second and third, Cooper hit an RBI ground out to score Leto. After a Manahan base-on-balls, the Wildcats got tricky. Manahan took off for second, drawing a throw and allowing Mobley to score on the double steal. Manahan would then score on an Amegin single.
Mobley and Manahan each drove in three runs while Amegin and Cooper each recorded two RBIs. Mobley and Cooper banged out three hits apiece. In her first game back in Hawaii, J.C. Kira went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. Kira attended St. Francis High School in Honolulu.
Sophomore hurler Courtnay Foster improved her record to 7-3 on the season, allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out 11 in seven innings of work.
"Utah is a very good hitting team," NU head coach Kate Drohan said. "Courtnay did a good job holding them to only three runs."
