Northwestern
Illinois State
Second-Seeded Wildcats Take Down No. 22 Redbirds, 5-2
5/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 19, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Senior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) struck out 14 batters and second-seeded Northwestern came back from an early deficit to defeat Illinois State, 5-2, Saturday afternoon in the winner's bracket of the NCAA Tournament Evanston Regional.
With the win, the Wildcats advance to Sunday's championship game scheduled to begin at noon CT. Northwestern (47-11) will face Illinois State again after the Redbirds eliminated Notre Dame, 3-1, in Saturday's final elimination game.
The loss in the game dropped Illinois State to 43-16-1 on the season.
Illinois State scored two runs to open the game in the top of the first against Canney. An infield single and walk put runners at first and second, then a two-out triple to right scored both to give the Redbirds a 2-0 lead.
The Wildcats got one run back quickly in the bottom of the first. Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off the inning with a bloop single into center, but was eliminated at second on a fielder's choice grounder by Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola). With Williams now at first, senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) blasted a double into the gap in right-center, scoring Williams all the way from first to cut the NU deficit to one, 2-1.
After several rallies failed the knot the score in the second and third innings, Northwestern equalized and more in the fourth. With one out, senior Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) reached on a error by the first baseman, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport).
Junior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) then shot a two-out single into right to score Miller from second and tie the game, 2-2. Sengewald advanced to second on the throw home, then scored when Logan singled back up the middle to give the 'Cats the lead, 3-2.
Illinois State withdrew starter Shannon Nicholson (21-7) from the circle following the Logan hit in favor of Stacy Birk. After Birk unleashed a wild pitch to move Logan to second, Williams hit a comebacker, but the throw sailed over the first baseman's head for an error to allow Logan to score and give NU a two-run lead, 4-2.
In the top half of the fifth, Illinois State put its first two batters at second and third with no outs after a single and a double. Canney bore down, however, fanning the next three batters in a row to get out of the inning with no damage done. Canney had compiled 11 strikeouts through five innings of work.
The Wildcats added some insurance in the bottom half of the sixth. After Kelly Dyer led off with a walk, Sengewald moved her up a bag with a sacrifice bunt. An infield single to second from Logan pushed Dyer to third, then a single through the right side of the infield by Williams scored Dyer to make the score 5-2.
Canney struck out 14 in the game for NU, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk to improve to 28-9 on the year.
Logan finished 3-for-4 for the second-consecutive game, while Williams had a pair of hits for NU.
