Northwestern University Athletics
Season Recap: New Levels of Success For NU
6/10/2005 12:00:00 AM | Softball
June 10, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Before the 2005 campaign began, head coach Kate Drohan proclaimed: "We are an older squad now, with a wealth of postseason experience and clutch performers. This will be an exciting year for Northwestern softball."
How's that for beginning the season with the understatement of the year.
The Wildcats put together a 42-18 record en route to a second-place Big Ten finish -- their best since 1998 -- and a run to the NCAA Super Regional round of 16. The 42 wins were just one shy of the school's record for single-season victories, set in 1987.
It was a year of fantastic finishes, stellar streaks and mind-numbing numbers that Northwestern had never seen before. To begin to grasp the level to which the Wildcats skyrocketed their play this season, consider a few figures:
18 • School individual single-season or career records broken by Wildcats during the year.
3 • All-America honors, tripling NU's previous single-season best.
23 • Home runs by which NU bested its previous team single-season total (33) by blasting 56 in 2005. Before this year, only four NU squads had hit even 23 home runs in a year.
Fourth • Rank in NCAA history of NU's six-home run game against Michigan State on April 30th, and of freshman Stephanie Churchwell's (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) streak of seven hits in seven consecutive at bats against Wisconsin on April 10.
Numbers can showcase raw talent, but it took team efforts from every player on Northwestern's roster contributed to the program's third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. This year, the Wildcats' received the No. 9 overall seed -- their first ever seeding in the event.
Northwestern opened Regional play in South Bend, Ind., with a 6-1 victory against the University at Albany before falling, 3-2, against host Notre Dame. The Wildcats are 7-1 all-time in their opening games of the NCAA Tournament.
In the consolation bracket, NU took a decisive, 8-2 decision from Louisville to advance to championship Sunday. Needing the defeat Notre Dame twice, juniors Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) and Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) hit back-to-back home runs in a 4-1 first game victory.
Amegin's homer was her final one in a record-setting season. She launched 14 round-trippers to set NU's single-season mark, and finished her junior year with Northwestern's career record (25) also in hand.
NU then rode a two-run homer from Churchwell and a two-run double by Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) to a 4-3, championship-clinching victory over the Irish. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) coaxed a groundout to preserve that win.
Sophomore Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol), NU's nine hitter most of the season, came alive during the postseason to bat a team-best .417 at the South Bend Regional and jump start the top of the Wildcats' lineup.
Logan and freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) played a huge role in the Wildcat offense at the bottom of the order. When one or the other scored during the season, NU had a 26-4 record.
Northwestern would lose twice to DePaul in the Super Regional to bow out of the tournament, but Mobley hit safely twice in the first game to claim NU's career hits record at 216.
NU's postseason run was set up by an impressive tournament schedule to open the year. Northwestern twice beat top-five ranked Stanford and also defeated No. 2 California, 2-1, on a walk-off home run by junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) to give NU the championship at the rain-shortened Capital Classic. Canney earned the win in all three of those games.
The Wildcats took then-No. 2 Arizona to extra innings in the fourth game of the season before falling, 4-3, in eight innings. Sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) hit a home run off All-American Alicia Hollowell in the sixth inning of that game to knot the score.
Entering the Big Ten season with a record of 18-9, Northwestern offered a glimpse of things to come in the conference during its first game against Illinois. Canney threw just the fourth perfect game in program history and the first no-hitter since 2000 in a 10-0, five inning win over the Illini.
Using the win as a springboard, NU captured its first 14 Big Ten games in a row and put together a 16-game winning streak from April 1 to April 19, the second-best streak in NU history.
With four games remaining in the conference schedule, and a chance to clinch the Big Ten title with a sweep of Michigan State, Northwestern tripped up in a 2-0 loss to the Spartans. The Wildcats bounced back with the most impressive power performance in program history, when six different Wildcats launched home runs -- including four bombs during the sixth inning -- in a 14-2, six inning win.
With Northwestern's magic number for its first Big Ten title since 1987 at one, the Wildcats traveled to No. 1 Michigan for the final weekend of the regular season. NU fought valiantly, but despite putting up the most runs of anyone against the Wolverines all year in a single game during an 8-7 loss in the second contest, the Wildcats came up just short to the eventual national champions. McCorkle twice went deep in that second game loss.
Due to rain outs during the year, Northwestern fell just percentage points short of the title with its 15-3 record. Michigan was 15-2.
During the course of the season, the Wildcats achieved a high of No. 15 in both national polls, the highest rankings for Northwestern ever in a national poll.
With national recognition comes lots and lots of awards. The Wildcats tied the program best with four first-team All-Big Ten selections. Cooper, Churchwell, Mobley and junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) all earned first-team conference nods. Foster finished her career-best season with a 22-7 record and led all pitchers in Big Ten games with a 1.08 ERA.
Dotson and Canney picked up second-team All-Big Ten nods.
Cooper became just the third Wildcat to be named Big Ten Player of the Year after leading the conference in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Drohan was named co-Coach of the Year.
Cooper, Churchwell and Foster were all tabbed as first-team NFCA All-Mideast Region selections, with Mobley and Canney landing on the second team. NU's three first-teamers and five overall accolades both tied school bests.
Cooper went on to be named the nation's best first baseman, becoming just the second Wildcat to earn NFCA first-team All-America honors. Churchwell was named to the second team as an at-large bid and Foster earned at-large honors on the third-team.
Cooper and Mobley also earned academic distinction, being named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District V first team.
During the course of the year, three Wildcats picked up five Big Ten Player/Pitcher of the Week awards. Churchwell and Canney earned the nod twice, while Foster was picked once.
Amegin, Churchwell and McCorkle picked up All-Tournament team honors at the Big Ten Tournament.
In addition to awards this season, the Wildcats broke more records than Disco Demolition Night at Old Comiskey Park. Cooper led the way with seven, shattering single-season and currently holding career records for batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage. She also set a record with 16 doubles in 2005.
In addition to her homer marks, Amegin became NU's all-time leader in walks. Churchwell set single-season hits, runs scored, total bases and at-bats standards in her freshman year, while Dotson's 52 RBIs were also a single-season record.
Mobley concludes her career atop not only NU's career hits list, but runs scored and total bases.
In all four years of the Drohans' tenure at Northwestern, the Wildcats have advanced further into the postseason than they did the year before. With three All-Americans and every starter save for one returning for 2006, "exciting" things indeed are on the horizon.
