Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Illinois Walks Off on No. 11 Northwestern, 9-8
4/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 26, 2009
URBANA, Ill. -- For the second-straight day, Illinois came back from an early deficit against No. 11 Northwestern and walked off with a bottom-of-the-seventh home run to defeat the Wildcats, 9-8.
The loss drops Northwestern to 28-11 overall on the year, 12-4 in the conference. Illinois improves to 26-14 on the season, 9-6 in the Big Ten with its win.
One day after winds blew directly out to center at 22 mph with gusts at 35, Sunday's breeze ballooned to 30 mph sustained winds with gusting up to 50 mph. Temperatures remained very pleasant in the lower 80's.
Northwestern took advantage of a pair of Illinois errors in the top of the first to plate the game's first two runs. Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) reached on a leadoff single that ricocheted off the pitcher to the shortstop, beating the throw to first and moving to second when said throw sailed out of play. One out later, freshman Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) lifted a fly ball into right center that glanced off the glove of the fielder for an error to score Thompson.
A groundout off the bat of Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) moved Monka to third, allowing her to score on a wild pitch during the at-bat of Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine).
After Wildcats' starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) fanned a pair of batters in the bottom half of the first, senior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) led off the top of the second with a solo home run to deep center to make the score 3-0. Dyer's blast was her fourth in NU's three games this week, her 15th of the season and the 44th of her career.
Later in the inning, Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) doubled down the left-field line before Thompson and Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) joined her on base when both were hit by pitches. With the bases now loaded, Monka sent a single into right to score both Quinn and Thompson, giving NU a 5-0 advantage after its first two turns at the bat.
Delaney again set the Illini down in order in bottom of the third, getting the third out on a tremendous defensive play by the left side of the infield. A bounder headed toward the hole glanced off the glove of a diving Thompson, and Williams was able to reverse her momentum, barehand the ball and fire to a stretching Monka at first to end the frame.
Pauly led off the top of the third with a line-drive double into right center. She moved to third on a groundout by Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) one out later before Quinn drove her in with a single into right to give NU a six-run cushion, 6-0.
Illinois got itself on the board in the bottom of the third. After loading the bases with one out, the Illini got a two-run double for their first hit of the game. A sacrifice fly by the next batter succeeded in cutting the Wildcats' lead in half, 6-3, before the inning ended.
Delaney again ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth, allowing a pair of base runners with one out in the inning. Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) then entered the game in relief of Delaney. The next batter hit a three-run home run to tie the game, 6-6, before Smith got a pair of groundouts to Pauly at second to end the frame.
Northwestern put runners at first and second with two outs in the top of the fifth thanks to Kelly Dyer drawing a walk and Quinn being hit by a pitch, but the frame would end there. Illinois then took its first lead of the game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the inning before Smith retired the next three Illini in a row -- including the second out on a tremendous leaping grab of a liner by Williams.
Illinois starter Monica Perry hit Thompson with a pitch for the third time in the game to lead off the top of the sixth, immediately followed by Thompson's third steal of second in the contest. It is the second time this season Thompson has swiped three bags in a single game after it had not been done by a Wildcat since 2004.
One out later, Monka mashed a line drive that needed no help from the wind to sail over the center field fence, giving Northwestern the lead back, 8-7. Monka's home run was her team-best 17th of the year, giving her the second-most in a single season in NU history and already placing her in a tie for ninth place on Northwestern's all-time home run list.
Illinois got runners to second and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth. The next batter singled through the right side of the infield to score one, but a perfect throw from Quinn nailed the trailing runner at the plate for the second out in the inning to keep the score tied, 8-8, heading into the seventh.
Monka was 2-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Thompson was 1-for-1 with the three HBP's, three steals and three runs scored. Quinn finished 2-for-3 for NU. Monka now has 47 RBIs on the year, ranking sixth in NU single-season history. Erin Dyer has 45 RBIs, good for a seventh-place tie on NU's single-season RBI list.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, Illinois got a solo home run to win the game that just got over the fence out of the reach of a leaping Kelly Dyer in center.
Smith took the loss for NU, falling to 1-2 on the year. She went 3.0 innings of relief, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk.
Northwestern returns to action at 4 p.m. CT Tuesday, April 28, against No. 20 DePaul at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
