Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Nevada (Worth Invitational)
Northwestern Bests Nevada, 7-0
3/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 5, 2005
FULLERTON, Calif. -- Sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) went 4-for-4 with three RBIs at the plate and seven different Wildcats scored a run Saturday afternoon to lead Northwestern to a 7-0 win over Nevada at the Worth Invitational.
Cooper's quartet of hits marks the best single-game total of her career and the most hits in a single-game by any active Wildcat.
Cooper's first hit was also her biggest. In the first inning, freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) walked and senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) followed with a single. Cooper then cleared the bases with an opposite-field home run to give NU a 3-0 lead.
The blast was the third of the season for Cooper.
In the third inning, the Wildcats put three more runs on the board. Cooper led off the inning with a single, then was replaced by pinch-runner Elizabeth Piatt (Monticello, Ill./Monticello). Junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) hit a one-out single and advanced to second on an error by the right fielder that sent Piatt to third.
Sophomore Lauren Olson (Lafayette, Calif./Acalanes) came in to run for Dotson, then following a flyout, Piatt scored on a wild pitch. Three consecutive singles from sophomore Megan Hinck (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich), freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) and sophomore Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) scored Olson and Hinck and gave the Wildcats a 6-0 advantage.
NU (12-5) got its seventh run in the fifth inning. Junior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) hit a one-out single, but was erased by a Sengewald fielder's choice. Sengewald stole second and third, then scored on Logan's second RBI single of the game.
Cooper hit one-out singles in both the fourth and sixth innings to account for her four hits. Hinck finished the game with a pair of hits for the Wildcats. Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) collected a single to contribute to NU's 13-hit onslaught.
Not to be lost in the strong offensive performance was sophomore Eileen Canney's (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) four-hit shutout from the circle. Canney struck out five and walked just one to run her record to 7-2 on the year.
Nevada drops to 6-9 overall with the loss.
Northwestern returns to action at the Worth Invitational at 8 p.m. CT tonight, Saturday, March 5, against No. 3 Stanford.
