Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
Senior Day Showcase! NU Blasts Spartans, 14-2
4/30/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 30, 2005
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Six different Wildcats hit home runs and No. 15 Northwestern pounded out 17 hits as NU celebrated the record-breaking career of Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) in record-breaking style, run-ruling Michigan State, 14-2, in six innings on Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Four of those home runs came in the sixth inning, and NU twice went deep in back-to-back at bats. Both the number of homers in a single inning and the total number in the game are Wildcat records. By comparison, Northwestern's 1987 Big Ten Championship team hit seven home runs as a team -- all season.
NU's 17 hits are the most in a single game this season. The Wildcats previously recorded 15 hits in a game on March 24 against St. Mary's and April 10 at Wisconsin.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 35-12 overall, 15-1 in the Big Ten. Michigan State falls to 21-25-1 overall, 7-7 in the Big Ten. Northwestern's magic number to win the Conference is now one, with a showdown looming against second-place Michigan next weekend in Ann Arbor.
Freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) led off the game with a single into left field, extending her team-season-best hitting streak to 16 games. She was erased on a slapping sacrifice attempt by Mobley, who advanced to second when sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) single up the middle.
Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) loaded the bases with a single to the pitcher. She lined a ball off MSU starter Lesley Noel, ricocheting the ball to the third-base foul line. After a brief meeting in the circle to determine Noel was alright, junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) hit a hard ground ball toward second that was muffed, allowing Mobley to score and give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
Michigan State knotted the score in the bottom half of the inning, putting runners on first and third with one out. A steal attempt toward second base drew a throw from junior catcher Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill), but it skipped into centerfield allowing the runner on third to scamper home.
The Wildcats wrestled the lead back in the second. Freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) led off with a walk, and advanced to second on Churchwell's second single of the game. Mobley moved the runners over with a groundout to second before Cooper's second single of the game scored Sengewald from third to make the score 2-1 in favor of NU.
In the fourth, Northwestern got downright offensive. Sophomore Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off by forcing a throwing error with her speed down the line. Churchwell then launched a ball over the left-field fence for her eighth home run of the season to give the Wildcats a 4-1 lead.
Mobley stepped to the plate and made her Senior Day memorable, driving a ball over the left-field fence for a solo home run and a 5-1 Wildcat lead. The blast was the 16th of her career and her fifth of the season, setting a new season-high for the senior.
Churchwell and Mobley's back-to-back blasts marked the first time this season NU has gone yard in consecutive at-bats, but it would not mark the last time in the game.
Cooper followed Mobley with her third single of the game, then was lifted for pinch-runner Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake), but no further scoring would happen in the inning for NU.
More runs came in the top of fifth. Sengewald and pinch-hitter Megan Hinck (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) hit back-to-back leadoff singles. Sengewald advanced to third when Churchwell hit sharply into a fielder's choice, erasing Hinck at second. Sengewald then scored when Mobley ripped a single into right field to make the score 6-1.
Michigan State brought in Abby Lincoln to relieve Noel after Mobley's base knock. With runners on first and second, Lincoln walked Cooper, Dotson and Amegin to push Churchwell and Mobley over the plate for an 8-1 NU lead.
Jackie Noble then replaced Lincoln, coaxing a fly out to stem the damage.
The home runs just kept coming in the top of the sixth for NU. A record amount of them, in fact. Sophomore Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) led off with a pinch-hit blast over the center-field fence, then Sengewald followed with a bomb to same exact spot to extend Northwestern's lead to 10-1.
With two outs, Mobley notched her third hit of the game, then scored her fourth run when Cooper's fourth hit of the contest sailed over the fence in left-center. After Dotson drew a walk, Amegin joined the party with a home run to center field to account for the final NU run of the game.
Michigan State would add a run in the bottom of the sixth, but could not escape the mercy-rule advantage Northwestern had built.
Cooper finished the game 4-for-4 with three RBIs, raising her season average to a ridiculous .459. She entered the weekend leading the Big Ten in batting by .35 points. Mobley concluded her Senior Day with a 3-for-5 effort, scoring a career-best four runs with two RBIs. Churchwell was also 3-for-5, driving in two and scoring twice. She broke the schools' single-season hits record, bringing her total this year to 71.
Amegin twice hit safely and drove in three runs. Sengewald also had a pair of hits and scored three times.
Mobley is the school's career runs and total bases leader, and with her performance Saturday against the Spartans, she pulled to within nine hits of NU's all-time mark in that category.
Junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) struck out six over six innings of work to record the win and improve her record to 17-6.
Noel (6-5) took the loss for MSU.
Northwestern returns to action in a nonconference home doubleheader versus DePaul beginning at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
