Wildcats Homer Past Badgers, 10-3

Saturday, April 1

Evanston, Ill.

12:00 PM

Northwestern

20-8, 2-0

Wisconsin

11-12, 0-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northwestern	0	2	3	0	2	3	0	10	10	2
Wisconsin	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	4	1

4/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 1, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill. -- One day after opening the Big Ten schedule with three home runs served up by freshmen, No. 16 Northwestern's veterans launched three home runs of their own Saturday afternoon in a 10-3 Wildcat victory over Wisconsin.

Junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) went deep twice and doubled in the game, finishing 3-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs scored. Senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) hit a solo homer of her own in a 2-for-3 effort.

With the win, Northwestern improves to 20-8 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin falls to 11-12, 0-2 with the loss. The Wildcats now have won five-straight contests over the Badgers.

NU began the scoring in the second inning. Amegin led off with a walk, but was erased on a fielder's choice ball from senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill). Senior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) followed with a fielder's choice grounder of her own, but Dotson was safe at second on an error. Freshman Ann Schraufnagel (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) entered the game to run for Dotson.

A single by freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) loaded the bases, but Schraufnagel was thrown out at home one batter later to bring sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) to the plate with two outs and the bases still loaded.

Sengewald shot a single back into centerfield to score McCorkle and Dyer and give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.

Wisconsin got a run back in the second after a bases-loaded walk, making the score 2-1 in favor of the 'Cats.

In the third, Northwestern extended its lead a bit. Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off with a single, then scored on a double by Cooper. Amegin then advanced Cooper to third with a single to center. Both Cooper and Amegin would score on a hit by McCorkle to push the Northwestern lead to four, 5-1.

In the fifth, Cooper and Amegin led off the inning with back-to-back jacks, the first time Northwestern has gone back-to-back this season. Amegin's home run gave her 31 for her career, tying her with Michigan State's Stacey Phillips (1997-2000) for ninth on the Big Ten's career list.

Leading 7-1 in the sixth, the Wildcats reached double-digits for the second-consecutive game. With Sengewald on base after a fielder's choice and freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) on first thanks to a single, Cooper laced her second home run of the game over the right-field fence for a 10-1 Northwestern lead.

Cooper's 10 total bases and five RBIs set career single-game highs for the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year. She now has a team-best 11-game hitting streak.

The Badgers would stave off the run-rule with two runs in the bottom of the frame, but ended up falling, 10-3, in seven innings.

Senior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Corona del Sol) picked up the complete game victory to move to 11-4 on the year. She allowed three runs -- two earned -- on four hits and six walks while striking out nine.

Eden Brock (8-7) pitched the first 2.2 innings of the game for Wisconsin, and was tagged with the loss. She allowed five runs -- three earned -- on six hits. Theresa Boruta gave up NU's other five runs in 3.1 innings of work. Leah Vanevenhoven pitched a scoreless seventh for the Badgers.

In Friday's series opener against Wisconsin, Dyer, Williams and Hampshire all hit home runs in their first-career games at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. Northwestern won that contest by its biggest margin ever in Big Ten play, 16-0 (5).

Northwestern returns to action a noon tomorrow, Sunday, April 2, with a doubleheader against Iowa.