Start Wearing Purple: Wildcats Clinch Big Ten Title

Saturday, May 6

Champaign, Ill.

6:00 PM CT

Northwestern

39-11, 15-3

Illinois

24-29, 8-10

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Northwestern	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	X	0	4	2

Start Wearing Purple: Wildcats Clinch Big Ten Title

5/6/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

May 6, 2006

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- No. 13 Northwestern entered this weekend's series against Illinois needing one win to clinch its first outright Big Ten title since 1987. The Wildcats earned that victory Saturday night at Eichelberger Field, with junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) tossing a four-hit shutout and three different Wildcats rapping RBI singles in a 3-0 win for Northwestern.

The title is the fifth in program history for the Wildcats, who now hold an insurmountable lead in the Big Ten standings with a 15-3 record and one game remaining. NU is 39-11 overall. Northwestern won its previous conference titles in 1982 and four straight from 1984-87.

The win also grants the Wildcats the right to host the Big Ten Tournament May 11-13. This is the first time a school other than Iowa and Michigan will host the Tournament.

"We wanted to win tonight and take care of business right away," NU head coach Kate Drohan said. "We had a great night at the plate, and even our outs were well-hit balls. I told our seniors tonight after the game they have brought this program so far. For them, and also for some alums who were in the stands tonight, this is a special moment."

Northwestern wasted no time establishing the first lead of the game. Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off the game with a walk, then moved to second when freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) singled to the shortstop. Junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) accounted for the first run of the game with a single into left to score Logan and move Williams to third.

With Illinois' infield drawn in, senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) took advantage by dumping a ball just over the second-baseman's head for a run scoring single with Williams heading home. The run was Williams' 54th of the season, giving her the Northwestern single-season record all to herself and giving the Wildcats an early 2-0 lead.

Canney started the game in the circle for the Wildcats, and after allowing a hit to the leadoff batter, immediately settled down and started reaching even more NU benchmarks than she already had. She fanned her second batter of the game in the second inning, giving her 288 for the season to tie All-American Lisa Ishikawa's 1985 total for third place in NU history.

That `K' was the first of six in a row for Canney, whose sixth strikeout of the game to end the third gave her 292 for the year to tie teammate Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) for second on the NU single-season list.

The Wildcats added another run in the fourth inning. Freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) served a one-out single into right, then moved to second on a walk to senior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake). Sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) drove in Dyer with a rocket single just under the diving shortstop to push NU's lead to three, 3-0.

Canney continued to dominate against one of the better hitting teams in the conference in the fifth, fanning the first two batters she faced to reach 10 for the game.

Canney finished the game with 12 strikeouts and 298 on the season -- the second most strikeouts ever in a single season for a Wildcat. The shutout was her 14th of the year, tying her with Michelle Hawkins (1993) for third on the NU single-season list. She has allowed just three earned runs in her last 78.2 innings pitched. Canney now is 20-5 on the year, setting a career high for wins in a season. She won 19 games in each of her first two years as a Wildcat.

Northwestern returns to action at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, May 7 against Illinois in the teams' final regular season game.