No. 13 Northwestern Sweeps Illinois, 5-0

Sunday, May 7

Champaign, Ill.

1:00 PM

Northwestern

40-11, 16-3

Illinois

24-30, 8-11

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Illinois	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Northwestern	0	0	0	0	3	2	X	5	9	1

No. 13 Northwestern Sweeps Illinois, 5-0

5/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

May 7, 2006

URBANA, Ill. -- No. 13 Northwestern concluded its regular season with a sweep of Illinois Sunday afternoon at Eichelberger Field, tossing its second-consecutive shutout of the Illini, 5-0.

The Wildcats now are 40-11 overall, and finished with a Big Ten-best 16-3 record. Northwestern concludes the regular season with 40 wins for the first time since 1987, when the Wildcats had 42 regular-season victories en route to a school record 43 total triumphs. This is the fifth time in program history NU has reached the 40-win plateau, and the second year in a row it has happened.

Illinois fell to 24-30, 8-11 with the loss. The Illini will be the No. 8 seed at the upcoming Big Ten Tournament, meaning they will face the No. 1 Wildcats in the first round.

Northwestern put at least two runners on base in each of the first three innings, but were unable to come away with any runs. Illinois -- which made a pair of errors in Saturday's match-up -- got some good defensive play to help keep the Wildcats scoreless.

In the third inning with junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) on third and freshman pinch runner Ann Schraufnagel (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) on second, freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) hit a ball deep into the hole at short. With no shot at throwing out Dyer at first, Illini shortstop Angelina Mexicano made a quick flip to third where the tag was applied to Schraufnagel to end the threat.

In the circle for Northwestern, senior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) did her part to keep Illinois off the board. Early in the game, the Illini threatened just once by putting a runner on third with one out, but Foster got a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Wildcats broke out the big bats and hung a three-spot on the Illini. Senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) got on base with a one-out single and still was there one out later. Senior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) then ripped a hit into right field that scooted past the fielder and went for a run-scoring triple and a 1-0 Northwestern lead.

Dyer then one-upped McCorkle's triple by smashing her fourth home run of the season deep over the center-field fence to extend the Wildcats' lead to three, 3-0.

In the bottom of the sixth, freshman Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) added a two-run bomb of her own to score herself and junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) -- on base after a single -- to give the 'Cats a 5-0 advantage.

One game after junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) earned her 20th win of the year, Foster (20-6) picked up her 20th to give the Wildcats two 20-game winners for the first time in program history. Foster allowed three hits and one walk while striking out nine batters for her fourth shutout of the year.

Foster now has reached the 20-win plateau for the second-consecutive year. Her nine strikeouts give her 204 for the season, making her the second pitcher in Northwestern history to strike out 200 batters in all four of her seasons as a Wildcat. The other? Three-time All-American Lisa Ishikawa, who concluded her career in 1987 as the NCAA's career leader in fanned batters with an even 1,200.

Northwestern returns to action May 11-13 as the No. 1 seed and host of the Big Ten Tournament. A tournament page with a complete schedule, game and tournament information will be available soon at NUsports.com.