Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Oregon State
Wildcats Fall to No. 17 Oregon State, 5-2
3/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 21, 2005
Box Score
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) smacked two homers, but it was No. 17 Oregon State riding five early runs to a 5-2 victory over No. 23 Northwestern Monday afternoon in Sacramento.
The schools played at Sacramento State's Shea Stadium as a makeup after the final two days of the Capital Classic were rained out. They were scheduled to play each other Sunday at the tournament.
After the Beavers (17-6) opened the game with a run in the first inning, Churchwell evened the score with an opposite-field blast to left field to lead off bottom half of the frame.
Oregon State added another run in the top of the second, and after leading off the top of the third with a walk, Northwestern sophomore Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) replaced starter Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) in the circle. OSU finished the third with a 5-1 lead.
Churchwell got one of those runs back immediately, homering again in the bottom of the third inning to almost the identical spot: just to the left of where a large apple would have appeared on a home run at New York's Shea Stadium.
Canney shut down the Beaver offense the remainder of the game, but the Wildcats were unable to get that clutch hit to break through for more runs.
Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) led off the bottom of the fourth with a double, but NU could not bring in Elizabeth Piatt (Monticello, Ill./Monticello), who pinch-ran.
In the bottom of the fifth, Churchwell walked, senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) singled and sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) walked to load the bases with two outs, but again no run would score.
Junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) hit a one-out double in the sixth and Churchwell reached on an error in the seventh, but the Wildcats did not push them across.
The loss was NU's first against a ranked team in its last six attempts. The Wildcats are now 5-3 this season against opponents ranked in the top-25. Northwestern is 3-3 against the Pac-10 this year.
Foster (6-4) took the loss for the Wildcats while Brianne McGowan (14-2) earned the win for Oregon State.
Northwestern (15-7) returns to action at 8 p.m. CT Tuesday for a doubleheader at No. 22 Fresno State.
