Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Northwestern Sinks Purdue With Late Homers, 4-3
3/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 27, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern came back from a two-run deficit with home runs in the fifth and sixth innings Saturday to defeat Purdue, 4-3, in its 2010 Big Ten and Sharon J. Drysdale Field opener.
Northwestern improves to 15-11 overall on the year, 1-0 in the Big Ten with its win. Purdue falls to 12-17 overall, 0-1 in the conference with its loss.
After Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) struck out the Purdue side to begin the game, Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) gave the Wildcats a one-out base runner in the bottom of the frame with a single off the bag at third. Scharkey stole second, then Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) joined her on base when Boilermaker starter Suzie Rzegocki hit her with a pitch, but nothing came of the early rally for NU.
Delaney continued to mow down Boilermakers, racking up six strikeouts through three innings. The Wildcats notched the game's second hit with an Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) one out single in the third, eventually getting her to third base on a steal and a Scharkey ground out, but that was where Allard would be stranded.
Purdue got its first hit against Delaney in the top of the fourth. After a two-out walk, the next batter to the plate wrapped a home run around the left-field foul pole to give the Boilermakers a 2-0 lead.
Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) opened the Northwestern half of the fourth with a single through the right side of the infield. Senior Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) entered the game to run for Batts, but did not move from that spot before the inning ended.
In the bottom of the fifth, junior Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) led off with a line shot to left field for a single. Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) successfully sacrificed Wheeler to second before Allard's second infield single of the game pushed Wheeler to third. Scharkey followed with a fielder's choice ball up the middle that erased Allard but plated Wheeler to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
Monka then stepped to the plate and demonstrated that she ate just the perfect amount of breakfast Saturday, hitting a home run that bounced off the top of the fence in center and out to push Northwestern into the lead, 3-2. The shot was her ninth of the season and the 28th of the sophomore's career.
In a moment of trick-shot magic, Purdue answered Monka's home run with a leadoff homer in the top of the sixth, this one also bouncing off the top of the fence in center and out of the park to tie the game, 3-3.
The back-and-forth home run contest continued in the bottom of the sixth when Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) lined a solo homer over the fence in center to give the Wildcats the lead back, 4-3. The blast was Pauly's sixth of the season and the 46th of her career.
In the top of the seventh, Delaney fanned the first batter to the plate to give herself 10 strikeouts in the game. A sharp one-hopper to Allard at short accounted for out number two before the next batter was hit by a pitch. A steal and a wild pitch from Delaney moved that runner to third, but Delaney coaxed a groundout to Pauly at second to end the game.
Delaney (7-7) went the distance, allowing only the two home runs as hits to go along with five walks and 10 strikeouts.
Allard finished 2-for-3 with a steal for Northwestern while Monka drove in a pair at the plate.
Northwestern returns to action at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow, Sunday, March 28, against Purdue at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
