Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
No. 14 Northwestern Drops Illinois, 6-2
4/11/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 11, 2008
URBANA, Ill. -- No. 14 Northwestern scored once in the first inning before gradually pulling away from Illinois for a 6-2 win Friday night at Eichelberger Field, giving the Wildcats their eighth-consecutive victory.
The win improves Northwestern to 21-9 overall on the season, 7-0 in the Big Ten. Illinois falls to 22-21 on the year, 2-5 in the conference with its loss.
The wind at Eichelberger Field was forceful to say the least, sustaining itself at 25-30 miles per hour with gusts of more than 40 blowing straight out to right field. The flags around the ballpark were continuously snapping so hard, it sounded as if the 229 fans in attendance were giving the teams a constant ovation.
Along with the wind, the game featured the Big Ten's two leading home run hitting teams from a year ago, with Northwestern leading the conference and ranking third in the nation with 85 total home runs, while Illinois was one spot behind the 'Cats with 84. With the wind and the two schools' power prowess, both pitching staffs did well to allow only three total home runs in the game.
Northwestern opened the game's scoring in the top of the first inning. With one out, junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) lined a double that one-hopped the fence in left, then she moved to third on a groundout by freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North). A wild pitch from Illinois starter Claire DeVreese then allowed Williams to come home for an early 1-0 NU lead.
In the bottom of the second, Illinois put runners at first and second with one out against Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias), who then coaxed a foul pop up from the Illini's Katrina Ross. The ball floated toward the backstop down the first base line, where junior catcher Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) laid out to catch it near the entrance to the Northwestern dugout for out number two. Both runners were able to move up a bag on the spectacular grab by Dyer, but Delaney got a weak grounder to Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) at third to end the inning with no Illinois runs across.
Northwestern added three runs in the top of the fourth inning, beginning with a leadoff home run by Dyer, who lifted a pitch into the jet stream and way over the right-field fence for her seventh home run of the season. Dyer is tied with Williams and Batts for the team lead, and has a Big Ten-leading five homers in conference play.
The next batter, freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) drew a four-pitch walk, then moved to third when a ground ball to third by sophomore Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) was fired wide of first base for a two-base error. Thompson then drew a walk to load the bases, still with no outs.
Senior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) then stepped to the plate and shot a single into right field to score both Quinn and Dyer and give NU a 4-0 lead.
Illinois scored its first run of the game on a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, the first score surrendered to the Illini by Delaney in her career. Last season, Delaney recorded her first-career no-hitter in her only matchup with Illinois.
Delaney recovered from the run in the fourth to strike out the Illinois side in the bottom of the fifth, reaching 10 Ks for the game.
Northwestern followed Delaney's act by tacking two more runs onto its lead in the top of the sixth. Sengewald led off with a line-drive double to the base of the fence in center, then came all the way around to score when the throw to first on an infield single by freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Ill./Los Alamitos) sailed high, allowing Wheeler to move to second. Williams then creamed her second double of the game, this one down the left-field line, to plate Wheeler and make the score 6-1.
Williams' third hit of the game chased DeVreese (15-14) from the circle in favor of Ashley Wright for the Illini. DeVreese allowed six runs (five earned) on 10 hits and five walks with one whiff in the game.
Illinois tacked on a second run with a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough to overcome Delaney's 15 strikeouts in the game.
Delaney (19-6) surrendered three hits and no walks with three hit batters in the game.
Williams finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 for Northwestern, scoring once and driving in a run. Erin Dyer and Sengewald each had a pair of hits, with Sengewald knocking in two runs.
Northwestern returns to action in its second game at Illinois at noon CT tomorrow, Saturday, April 12.
