Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
No. 12 California
No. 21 Wildcats Maul No. 12 Bears, 5-3
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 20, 2010
LAS VEGAS -- No. 21 Northwestern scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to complete a 5-3 victory over No. 12 California Saturday afternoon at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
The win improves Northwestern to 3-5 on the season while California falls to 6-2 with its loss. The Wildcats now are 8-3 all-time against the Bears under head coach Kate Drohan.
California got runners to second and third with nobody out in the top of the first inning, but Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) fanned the next two batters looking before inducing a ground out to Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) at third to end the inning unscathed.
The Bears did find the scoreboard in the second inning when an error, a fielder's choice and a double gave California a 2-0 lead on Northwestern.
The Wildcats struck back immediately in the bottom of the second. Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) drew a leadoff walk, then trotted around the rest of the bases when senior Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) launched her first home run of the season and the fourth of her career to tie the game, 2-2.
The rally continued after the bomb with back-to-back singles from seniors Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) and Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport). Then, with a 2-1 count on Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), Cal gave its starter, Marissa Drewrey, the hook in favor of Valerie Arioto. The move proved prescient when Arioto worked the Bears out of the jam to keep the score tied.
Although it had no bearing in any larger course of intriguing events in the inning, Thompson made the defensive play of the year thus far in the top of the third. Jolene Henderson crushed an absolute rocket down the third-base line, and Thompson left her feet to lunge across her body in a pure reaction move, stabbing the drive and holding on as the force of the hit spun her around in the air.
The score remained the same until the top of the fifth when Cal got a two-out single with a runner on third to go up 3-2. In the top of the sixth, Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) entered the game in relief of Delaney, who went 5.0 innings and gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
The Wildcats made their comeback move in the sixth inning. Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) led off with a double down the line in right, then was replaced by pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). She moved to third on a Batts groundout, then came home when Haug launched a double over the head and off the glove of a sprawling left-fielder for an RBI double.
Lauren Ackerman (St. Louis, Mo./Home schooled) ran for Haug at second, then came home when Dyer crushed a soaring home run over the second fence at Eller Media Stadium to put the Wildcats on top, 5-3. The shot was her second of the season and the 20th of her career.
Smith (2-0) then closed out the final inning to earn the victory, going 2.0 innings in relief and allowing no runs on one hit and one walk with one strikeout.
Haug finished the game 2-for-3 with three RBIs while Dyer was 3-for-3 with two RBIs.
Northwestern continues its Louisville Slugger Desert Classic schedule at 5:45 p.m. CT today against tournament host UNLV.
