Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Indiana
No. 13 Northwestern Pounds Indiana, 11-0 (5)
4/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 18, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 13 Northwestern scored in all four of its offensive innings, exploding for 11 runs on 10 hits in an 11-0, five-inning run-rule victory over Indiana Friday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The win improves Northwestern to 25-10 overall on the season, 10-1 in the Big Ten. Indiana falls to 12-29, 2-9 in the conference with its loss.
Northwestern scored a two-out run in the bottom of the first to take the game's first lead. With two gone in the inning, freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) was hit by the first pitch she saw from Indiana starter Monica Wright before motoring all the way around to score when sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) lined a double over the head of the center fielder.
The Wildcats took advantage of Indiana's attempt to unintentionally intentionally walk junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) to score two more times in the second inning. Earlier in the inning, freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) bounced a one-out single up the middle before moving to second when freshman Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) drew a walk. A perfect sacrifice bunt from freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) pushed each Wildcat up a bag.
With Williams now at the plate, Wright's fourth ball was so far outside it got away from the catcher, allowing Quinn to score on the wild pitch. The throw from the catcher to the IU third baseman covering home was kicked away from the plate, and Thompson aggressively kept running around third to slide in safely and give Northwestern a 3-0 advantage.
Northwestern kept pushing in the third, putting three more runs on the board. Batts led off the frame with a rocket single into center, then was replaced by pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). A walk to Pauly pushed Euler to second, then junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) lined a single off the top of the glove of a leaping third baseman and into left to score Euler and move Pauly to second.
After a Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) fielder's choice grounder erased her sister, Erin, at second base, Kelly stole second to put runners at second and third for the 'Cats. Sophomore Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) then bounced a single through the right side of the infield to drive in both Pauly and Kelly Dyer to give NU a 6-0 lead.
Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) had been cruising entering the fourth inning, not allowing a base hit until a walk and a one-out single put Hoosiers at first and second in the frame before Delaney ended the threat with an infield fly and her seventh strikeout of the game.
The Wildcats pushed the game into run-rule territory in the bottom of the fourth. Wheeler led off with a single into center, then came around to score when Williams unleashed her eighth home run of the season. The blast gives Williams 38 career home runs, moving her into a tie for eighth in Big Ten history.
One out later, Pauly pulverized a pitch off the Welsh-Ryan Arena wall for a solo shot -- her sixth of the season and the 20th of her career -- to make the score 9-0. Pauly moved into a tie with Gretchen Barnes (1999-2002) for fifth on NU's career home run list with the bomb.
A walk to Erin Dyer and a single by Kelly Dyer following the home run precipitated a pitching change for the Hoosiers, who replaced Wright (9-12) in the circle with Jennifer Moore. The next batter was Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley), who had replaced Haug on the base paths earlier in the game and remained to play DP. A grounder off Lafever's bat loaded the bases when IU unsuccessfully tried to get an out at third.
One out later, a single through the right single by Thompson concluded NU's scoring by plating both Dyers to make the final tally 11-0.
Freshman Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) entered the circle in relief of Delaney for the top of the fifth, hurling a scoreless inning to finish the shutout. Delaney moved to 23-6 on the season with the victory, allowing one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work.
Pauly finished with a home run, a double, two runs scored and two RBIs for the 'Cats, while Williams, Haug and Thompson each drove in two, as well. Kelly Dyer crossed the plate twice.
Northwestern returns to action at noon CT tomorrow, Saturday, April 19, at Sharon J. Drysdale Field for the second game of its series against Indiana.
