Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Loyola
Northwestern Blasts Ramblers, 6-3
4/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 13, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. -- J.C. Kira and Garland Cooper both blasted two-run home runs and Northwestern got some timely defense as the Wildcats defeated cross-town rival Loyola Tuesday 6-3 at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
NU (20-13) lit up the scoreboard early, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. In the first frame, Cooper singled in Sheila McCorkle to open the scoring. In the second inning, Jamie Dotson doubled in Kristen Amegin to make the score 2-0 before Kira sent a ball soaring off the covered stairway outside Welsh-Ryan Arena to stake the 'Cats to a 4-0 advantage.
Loyola (15-21) struck back for three runs in the fourth after beginning the inning with a trio of singles off NU starter Courtnay Foster. An error by Foster and a single by the Ramblers' Sarah Lamkin cut the lead to 4-3 with two outs. Mia Pangere then hit a liner to center that McCorkle grabbed with a face-first dive to keep NU on top.
Foster earned the win for Northwestern, upping her record to 9-11 after striking out eight and giving up three runs -- all unearned -- in six innings in the circle. Lindsey LaChiana (10-10) was tagged with the loss for Loyola after giving up six runs -- five earned -- on nine hits and allowing four walks in five innings of work.
In the fifth inning, NU struck back. Erin Mobley reached on an error by the first baseman and then Cooper hit a mammoth home run into the teeth of the wind to give the Wildcats the 6-3 lead. Cooper finished the game 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Cooper's three RBIs extend her team-leading total to 22 for the season. Her home run gives her five on the year, tied with Amegin for team-best. Her .644 slugging percentage for the season puts her on pace to shatter the school-record of .608, set by Brooke Siebel in 2000.
"We did a good job getting the bats off our shoulders today," Northwestern head coach Kate Drohan said. "Sometimes we wait too long to get that perfect pitch, but today we hit some bad pitches hard. Garland's home run was a good example of that."
Freshman Megan Hinck made her first collegiate appearance in the seventh for the Wildcats, coaxing a couple of comebackers and collecting a strikeout to earn the save.
Northwestern returns to action Friday with a 2 p.m. Big Ten showdown at Penn State.
