No. 15 Wildcats Put Out Flames, 9-0 (5)

Tuesday, April 11

Evanston, Ill.

4:00 PM

Northwestern

26-10

Illinois-Chicago

15-24

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Illinois-Chicago	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
Northwestern	1	5	3	0	X	9	9	0

No. 15 Wildcats Put Out Flames, 9-0 (5)

4/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

April 11, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill. -- The wind was blowing out hard Tuesday afternoon at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, but No. 15 Northwestern did not need the longball to blast Illinois-Chicago, 9-0, in five innings.

The Wildcats pounded out nine hits to score once in the first, five times in the second and three times in the third inning. Northwestern hit seven singles, a double and the team's first triple of the season.

With the win, Northwestern improves to 26-10 on the season. UIC falls to 15-24 overall with the loss.

Northwestern mounted a two-out rally to score the game's first run in the bottom of the first. Freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) drew a two-out walk, then advanced all the way to third on a single to right field from junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic).

Senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) then poked a single into left field to score Williams for a 1-0 Northwestern lead.

The Wildcats batted around in the second to tack five more runs on its lead. Freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) led off the frame with a single to center, and still was on first base two outs later. Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) advanced Dyer to third with a double into left-center.

Senior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) drove both runners in with a single down the left-field line, taking second on the throw home. UIC replaced starter Brittany McIntyre with Mercedes Lovato after the single.

Williams stepped to the plate and ripped Northwestern's first triple of the year to welcome Lovato to the game, hitting the ball to the fence in center to drive in McCorkle. The UIC throw to third on the play got by the fielder and rolled to the backstop, allowing Williams to score for a 5-0 Wildcat lead.

With the bases now empty and still with just two outs, Cooper was hit by a pitch, Dotson singled up the middle and senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) drew a walk to load them up. Dyer returned to the plate and ripped her second single of the inning past the shortstop to score Cooper to make the score 6-0.

UIC used its third pitcher of the game to begin the third, inserting Sarah Clynes into the circle.

More purple scoring occurred in the third. Sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) and Logan drew back-to-back leadoff walks before McCorkle poked a single down the right-field line. Sengewald scored on the play, and both runners moved up a base when the right-fielder booted the ball.

With Williams at the plate, Logan scooted home on a wild pitch to push the game into run-rule territory, 8-0. Williams ended up drawing a walk to put runners at the corners for Cooper, who grounded into a fielder's choice to score Logan and erase Williams at second. The inning ended with the Wildcats up nine, 9-0.

Canney earned her ninth shutout of the season with a three-hitter, walking one and striking out 10 over five innings of work. She improves to 12-5 on the year with the win. Canney is the first Wildcat to earn nine shutouts in a season since Jackie DeBoard did it in 1998.

Canney has struck out double-digit batters in each of her last four outings. She now has 562 career strikeouts, moving past Lauren Schwendimann (2000-03) into fourth on the Wildcats' career list.

McCorkle finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored for the Wildcats. Dotson and Dyer also had two hits and each drove in a run. Logan scored twice, as did Williams, who finished 1-for-1 with an RBI and two walks.

Northwestern returns to action at 4 p.m. CT, Friday, April 14 against Indiana at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.