Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
UNLV
No. 21 Wildcats Run Wild on Runnin' Rebels, 8-0
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 20, 2010
Box Score
LAS VEGAS -- No. 21 Northwestern pounced on Louisville Slugger Desert Classic host UNLV Saturday afternoon, matching the school record for steals in a game while getting a three-hit shutout by junior Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) to defeat the Runnin' Rebels, 8-0.
Northwestern improves to 4-5 on the year with its victory while UNLV now is 6-3 with its loss.
UNLV wasted no time mounting the first rally of the game. The Rebels put runners at second and third with one out against Smith in the bottom of the first, but Smith got a foul out to Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) at first and a ground out to Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) at third (with a great pick on the throw by Monka) to end the inning.
In the top of the third, Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) led off with a bounding single over the pitcher's head and into center. With Monka at the bat, Allard stole second for the second time in the game already, moving to third when the throw down skipped into center for an error. Monka would eventually walk and be replaced at first by pinch runner Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), who quickly stole second. Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) loaded the bases when she was hit by a pitch.
The scoring began with an Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) drive to the fence in left center that bounced off the glove of a hard-charging fielder for a single. Both Allard and Quinn came in to score on the play, with Batts moving to second. Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) followed with a rope down the line in left to plate Batts and move Haug to third on an RBI double.
The no-out rally continued with a walk to Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport), again loading the bases, but a pair of line outs, including a double play on a hard-hit ball back at the pitcher, ended the frame with the Wildcats on top, 3-0.
In the circle, Smith was pitching swimmingly. Through four innings of work the junior needed 46 pitches before setting down the side in order again in the fifth on just seven. She fanned the final batter in the fifth on three-straight pitches.
Northwestern added to its lead in the top of the sixth. Thompson reached on a leadoff error -- UNLV's fifth of the game -- before motoring to third with alert base running on Allard's third single of the contest. After Allard swiped second for the third time, Monka allowed her a more leisurely pace to the plate when she crushed a ball over the right-center field fence to put the Wildcats' advantage at six, 6-0. The shot was Monka's third of the year and the 22nd of her career.
The home run chased UNLV starter Kylie Wagner from the circle in favor of Traci Odegard, who finished the frame with no further damage. Wagner (3-1) gave up six runs on seven hits and four walks in 5.0 innings of work for the Rebels.
Lauren Ackerman (St. Louis, Mo./Home schooled) led off the top of the seventh with a pinch hit single through the right side of the infield. After a steal of second, she moved to third on an Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) single through the middle. Euler swiped second before a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Allard brought home Ackerman to make it 7-0. With second base open, Allard swiped it for her fourth steal of the game, the most in a single contest for a Wildcat dating back to at least 1998.
Monka then drew a walk to load the bases before Batts recorded an RBI groundout to make it 8-0.
Allard finished 3-for-5 with two runs and the record four steals for the Wildcats. Monka drove in a trio and Haug knocked in a pair in the game. As a team, Northwestern stole seven bases to tie the school record set March 27, 1999, against UNC Charlotte.
Smith's (3-0) performance was her third-career shutout and her second of the seven-inning variety, matching a complete game thrown last year at Loyola (Chicago). She allowed three hits and one walk with a career-best five strikeouts in the game, needing only 81 pitches (55 strikes) to complete the contest.
Northwestern finishes its Louisville Slugger Desert Classic schedule at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 21.
