Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Cal Poly
Cal Poly Silences No. 23 Northwestern, 4-0
2/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 27, 2010
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Cal Poly scored three runs before recording an out in the top of the first inning Saturday against No. 23 Northwestern at the Cathedral City Classic, riding the advantage to a 4-0 win over NU.
Northwestern falls to 6-7 with its loss while Cal Poly now is 3-3 on the year with its win.
Cal Poly opened the game's scoring in the top of the first. The two leadoff Mustangs reached on bunts before a double and single made it 3-0 with no outs recorded. Northwestern head coach Kate Drohan quickly substituted Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) for starter Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) in the circle, and Lamberth fanned the next three Cal Poly batters to the plate to end the frame.
With sprinkles falling pretty steadily after the first inning, Cal Poly put together the next best threat in the top of the third. The Mustangs got runners to second and third after a ground-rule double with two outs, but Lamberth got a routine grounder to Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) at third to end the inning.
Northwestern put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the fourth via a Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) ground-rule double and an Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) walk, but no runs came of it.
Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) entered the circle in the stead of Lamberth in the top of the fifth. After Smith (3-2) surrendered three runs on three hits in the first, Lamberth threw 4.0 scoreless frames in relief, giving up four hits and a walk with four strikeouts. The Mustangs quickly put a rally together, scoring a run when, with runners at second and third, the batter blooped a single over the drawn-in infield to make it 4-0. Delaney then got a line out and two strikeouts to escape the inning.
Northwestern put together a seriously rally in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs on a Thompson single and walks to Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) and Batts. Cal Poly somehow escaped, however, on a strikeout and two force outs at the plate.
Delaney kept Cal Poly quiet in the top of the seventh, finishing the game with 3.0 frame of relief, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) led off with a single to first before moving to second on a groundout by Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). No runs would come for NU in the inning, however.
Batts led NU at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.
Northwestern returns to action at 10 p.m. CT tonight against No. 5 UCLA.
