Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Wildcats Win Wild One Over Wisconsin, 8-7
4/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 10, 2005
MADISON, Wis. -- There were 15 runs, 26 hits and six errors. There were homers and squibbers, sparkling defensive plays and fielding blunders, leading to this one very long game recap. Two hours and 20 minutes after the first game of Sunday's doubleheader at Goodman Diamond started, No. 18 Northwestern escaped the epitome of a wild game with an 8-7 win against host Wisconsin.
With the win, the Wildcats remain perfect in the Big Ten with a 7-0 record and improve to 25-9 overall. Wisconsin falls to 12-16 overall, 3-4 in the Conference.
Wisconsin put the first run of the game on the board in the bottom of the second inning, executing a surprise squeeze play on a two-strike count to take a 1-0 lead. Some tough defensive plays later in the inning, including a texas-leaguer that centerfielder Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) was barely unable to get to and an error in the outfield led to two more Badger runs to give UW a 3-0 lead after the second.
The Wildcats wasted no time mounting a comeback. Sophomore Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off with a single, but was called out for leaving early from second base on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) followed with a frozen-rope line drive double to the wall in center before senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) launched her third homer of the season to make the score 3-2 in favor of the Badgers.
The blast was the 14th of Mobley's career, tying her for seventh all-time at Northwestern. The bomb gave the Wildcats 34 for the year as a team, breaking the team single-season record for home runs.
The game got much more ugly for NU in the bottom of the fourth. Wisconsin added a run in the fourth when a slap by Samantha Polito bounced high in front of the plate, and by the time it came down into catcher Jamie Dotson's (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) glove, Polito was standing on first and another run had come in from third. Another run scored on a passed ball to give Wisconsin a 5-2 advantage.
Wildcat starter Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) was then lifted for junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro), who was called for an illegal pitch on her first throw to allow the Badgers' third run of the inning to score before NU could get out of the frame.
Just like the first time the Badgers scored in the game, NU responded immediately. Churchwell led off the fifth with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a flyout by Mobley. Churchwell moved to third on a single from sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic). Junior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) ran for Cooper.
Even without a hit, Big Ten RBI leader Dotson found a way to drive in a run, hitting a fly ball into left field that Ana Miller lost in the sun for an error, allowing Churchwell to scamper home. Sophomore Elizabeth Piatt (Monticello, Ill./Monticello) ran for Dotson.
Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) then hit a grounder to the shortstop, who came home with the ball, but an aggressive slide from Crane beat the throw and cut the lead to 6-4.
McCorkle then stepped up and laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Piatt from third and slice the deficit to just one run, 6-5. With Amegin on second, freshman Kelly Odell (Portland, Ore./Westview) laced a ball into center, but Polito ran it down with a lunge to her right to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, NU completed the comeback. Logan beat out a one-out single to short and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Churchwell hit her second double of the game -- a majestic fly ball off the wall in left field. Logan had to wait on second to see if the ball would be caught, and was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Churchwell moved to third on the play.
Mobley then dinked a ball over the shortstop into left field for her third RBI of the game, bringing home Churchwell and tying the score, 6-6.
In the bottom half of the inning, Wisconsin put runners on second and third with one out, but Foster whiffed the final two batters of the inning to keep the score knotted. Those strikeouts were the first of the contest recorded by NU pitchers, who averaged 7.9 K's per game coming into the afternoon.
Already wild enough for the 1,000-strong crowd, the game got a little wilder in the top of the seventh. McCorkle hit a nubber with one out that spun away from every infielder after it for a single. With two outs, freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) hit a slow ground ball with eyes through the left-side hole to put runners on first and second.
Logan then hit a slap identical to Polito's in the fourth. She beat the throw to the bag for a single, but the throw sailed away into foul territory down the line allowing McCorkle to score and give the Wildcats their first lead of the game, 7-6. Churchwell followed with a ball into the hole at short, and beat the throw for her fourth hit of the game. Again, though, the throw got away and Sengewald scored to give NU an 8-6 lead.
That extra run became huge in the bottom of the seventh when Miller homered for her fourth hit of the game to make the score 8-7 in favor of Northwestern.
The seven runs are the most given up in a game by Northwestern this season.
The Wildcats' 15 hits in the game bested their previous game-high on the season, which was 13 against Nevada on March 5. Churchwell is the second Wildcat to earn four hits in one game this season; Cooper had four hits in the Nevada game.
Churchwell also scored three runs in the game. Logan finished with a trio of hits while McCorkle and Cooper both added a pair.
For the third consecutive game, Cooper reached base in every plate appearance.
Foster finished with the win, pitching 3.1 innings in relief, allowing one run on three hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Her record is now 12-4.
Eden Brock (9-6) took the loss for Wisconsin, pitching all seven innings.
