Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State
No. 11 Northwestern Blasts Past Michigan State, 6-3
5/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
May 3, 2008
Box Score
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 11 Northwestern launched three home runs to account for all of its scoring Saturday in a 6-3 victory over Michigan State at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The win improves Northwestern to 33-13 on the season and keeps the Wildcats tied atop the Big Ten standings with Michigan at 17-2. Michigan State drops to 26-27 on the year, 8-11 in the conference with its loss.
Northwestern began the game in signature fashion, powering its way to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. With one out, junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) drew a walk before freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) drove a Lesley Noel (14-17) offering over the right-center field fence. Batts' blast was her 11th of the season, ranking her second on the team.
Sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) followed Batts with a double down the right-field line, but the inning would end without Pauly crossing the plate.
Michigan State evened the game immediately in the top of the second in exactly the same fashion. The Spartans followed a leadoff walk with a one-out home run to right against NU starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) to knot the score, 2-2.
Michigan State took the lead in the top of the third, getting things started with a leadoff double on a texas-leaguer to center that evaded the dive of a charging Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport). Two Delaney wild pitches allowed the runner to cover the final 120 feet on the base paths to give the Spartans a 3-2 advantage.
In a see-saw game from the get-go, Northwestern took the lead right back in the bottom of the third. Williams began the rally with a one-out infield single, followed one out later by a base on balls issued to Pauly. With a slight drizzle falling, junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) made it rain for real with a soaring home run deep beyond the right field fence and into the brand new bleacher seating at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to give the Wildcats a 5-3 lead.
The homer was Dyer's 11th of the year, tying her with Batts for second place on the team. Dyer has eight four-baggers in conference play this year, the best total in the league. She also now has 27 career blasts, jumping her past teammate Pauly for fourth in NU history.
The Wildcats added their third home run of the game to lead off the bottom of the sixth. Freshman speedster Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) showed she has power as well, launching her second home run of the year to dead center to give NU a three-run cushion, 6-3.
Following the Thompson dinger, pinch hitter Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) drew a one-out walk, then was replaced at first by pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). After Williams flew out to the warning track in left for the second out of the inning, Batts was hit by a pitch, then lifted for runner Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley). Pauly's second walk of the game loaded the bases with two outs, but the frame would end there with no additional runs across.
Delaney settled down following the initial offensive barrage by Michigan State, retiring 13-of-14 batters from the third inning until the Spartans got a one-out single in the seventh. Delaney then got a pair of infield pop ups to end the game. She improves to 30-8 with the victory, becoming the third pitcher in NU history to earn 30 wins in a season along with All-Americans Lisa Ishikawa in 1984 and Eileen Canney in 2007 (they both had 33). Delaney allowed three runs on five hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.
Pauly was a perfect 2-for-2 with two doubles, two walks and a run scored for NU. Erin Dyer drove in three, Batts drove in a pair and Williams scored twice for the 'Cats.
Northwestern returns to action at 1 p.m. CT Sunday, May 4, against Michigan State at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The game will be televised live on the Big Ten Network, and it is Senior Day at the ballpark.
