Northwestern
Northern Illinois
Garland Cooper's Two Home Runs Silence Huskies, 6-1
4/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 3, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) hit two home runs to tie the Northwestern single-season record of 14 as the eighth-ranked Wildcats won a midweek contest Tuesday afternoon against Northern Illinois at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, 6-1.
The win pushes Northwestern's overall record to 28-7 on the year, while Northern Illinois falls to 13-14 on the season with the loss.
Cooper's two blasts in the game tie the Northwestern single-season record of 14 set by former 'Cat Kristen Amegin in 2005 and current sophomore Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) in 2006. The homers also give her 46 for her career, tying her with Michigan's Jessica Merchant (2002-05) for second in Big Ten conference history.
Cooper's multi-home run game was the fourth of her career and marked the second time she has gone yard twice against the Huskies at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. She also hit two blasts versus NIU on May 4, 2005, in Evanston.
After Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) retired the Northern Illinois side in order in the top of the first on two strikeouts and a groundout, the Wildcats jumped right on top in the game with two runs in their first at-bats.
Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off with a single up the middle, then one out later Cooper annihilated a pitch over the right-field fence for her 13th home run of the season and a 2-0 Northwestern lead.
In the top of the second, Northern Illinois loaded the bases with one out on a single, a walk and a fielder's choice before Delaney notched a pair of strikeouts to escape the inning unscathed.
The Huskies threatened again in the third when Ellen Stoddard doubled with a runner at first, but Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) in left hit Williams at short, who fired the relay to Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) at the plate to nail the runner trying to score. NIU would not plate any runs in the inning.
Northwestern, however, would plate some runs in its half of the third. Logan again led off with a single up the middle, moving to second one out later on a Cooper single to center. Freshman Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) then hit a sharp single back up the middle to score Logan from second and move Cooper to third. Pauly advanced to second on the throw home.
Erin Dyer followed with a deep sacrifice fly to left-center field, scoring Cooper from third for a four-run NU lead, 4-0.
The base hit by Pauly in the frame extended her current hitting streak to 13 games.
In the bottom of the fifth, Williams led off with a single back up the middle to push her team-best hitting streak to 21 games. Cooper followed with a soaring fly ball that stayed in the air seemingly forever, landing just beyond the right-center field fence for her second home run of the game and a 6-0 NU lead.
Northern Illinois put together one final rally in the top of the seventh, loading the bases against Delaney with two outs on a trio of walks. An error allowed one run to come in before Delaney notched her seventh strikeout to end the game in a 6-1 Northwestern win.
Delaney improved to a perfect 14-0 with the victory, allowing one unearned run on three hits and five walks with seven strikeouts.
Cooper was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBIs for NU, while Logan finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Northwestern returns to action at 3 p.m. CT Friday, April 6, at Purdue. Live audio of the game will be streamed at NUsports.com via All-Access.
