No. 17 Northwestern Tops San Diego State, 5-2

Saturday, March 18

Honolulu, Hawaii

2:00 PM

Northwestern

13-6

San Diego State

15-8

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northwestern	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	5	5	2
San Diego State	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	8	3

No. 17 Northwestern Tops San Diego State, 5-2

3/18/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

March 18, 2006

HONOLULU, Hawaii -- In a strange game Saturday featuring a combined six errors, 18 runners left on base and No. 17 Northwestern's career home run leader tying the school's all-time RBI mark on a hit by pitch, the Wildcats used a three-run seventh inning to defeat San Diego State, 5-2, at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational.

Senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove), whose 30 career home runs rank first in Northwestern's annals and 10th all-time in the Big Ten, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the seventh inning to set the Wildcats' all-time RBI mark.

With the win, the Wildcats improve to 13-6 overall on the season and 3-0 at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational. The Aztecs fall to 15-8, 1-2 in the event.

Northwestern jumped on the board right away in the first inning thanks to a trio of San Diego State fielding mishaps. Freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) led off the game with a towering pop up to third base, but it tipped off the fielder's glove on the way down for a two-base error. Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) then advanced Williams to third with a sacrifice bunt.

Junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) scored Williams from first with a ground ball to second that glanced off the fielder for error number two in the frame. Senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) also would reach base courtesy of an error, but just one Wildcat run crossed the plate in the inning.

San Diego State threatened in the bottom of the first, putting runners on second and third with one out courtesy of a single, a walk and a sacrifice. The cleanup batter hit a bounding grounder to Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) at third, who fired home to Dotson to prevent a run from scoring. Junior hurler Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) then coaxed a little flare to Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) at second, and the senior handled the short-hop well before flipping to Cooper at first to end the inning.

The Aztecs again threatened in the third, loading the bags with one out. This time, Williams handled a grounder to her at short, throwing home to get the force at the plate. Canney then whiffed the next batter looking to end the frame with no damage.

Through the first three innings of play, both teams had committed three errors each and combined to leave 11 runners on base. The first 1-2-3 inning of the game came in the Wildcats' half of the fourth, and only because freshman Erin Dyer's (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) hard grounder up the middle nailed the pitcher right in foot before bouncing perfectly to the second baseman, who completed the play to first for out number three.

The Wildcats tacked on another run in the fifth. Logan lofted a two-out single into center, then Cooper smacked her second double of the game off the bottom of the fence to score Logan all the way from first and give Northwestern a two-run lead, 2-0.

The Aztecs tied the game in the bottom of the fifth after loading the bases on three singles with no outs. Canney struck out the next two hitters, but a grounder with eyes to the right side scooted just under the glove of a diving Cooper to plate a pair of runs and knot the score, 2-2. A flyout by the next batter ended the inning.

In the top of the seventh, Northwestern mounted a rally. Sengewald drew a leadoff walk, then advanced to second when Williams single back up the middle to extend her team-best hitting streak to nine games.

The Aztecs then replaced starter Christina Ross with Celena Velasquez in the circle.

Following the pitching change, Logan advanced both runners a base with a sacrifice hit. San Diego State elected to intentionally walk Cooper with first base open, then hit Amegin with the very first pitch to push home Sengewald for a 3-2 lead.

The HBP gave Amegin her 108th career RBI, tying her with Erin Jancic (1999-02) for Northwestern's all-time record -- a very ironic way for NU's career home run leader to earn the RBI record.

With Dotson at the plate, Velasquez uncorked a wild pitch to score Williams from third to extend the Wildcats' lead to two, 4-2. Dotson then finished off the scoring with an RBI groundout to second, plating Cooper to make the score 5-2.

Canney (5-2) picked up the complete-game win for the 'Cats, allowing two runs on seven hits with three walks and seven strikeouts.

Cooper finished the game 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two doubles, while Williams went 1-for-4 with a pair of runs scored.