Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Wildcats Hold Off Boilermaker Rally, 9-7
3/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 28, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern scored eight runs in the first three innings Sunday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field before holding off a furious Purdue rally to sweep its series with the Boilermakers courtesy of a 9-7 victory.
Northwestern is 16-11 overall on the year with its win, 2-0 in the Big Ten. Purdue falls to 12-18 on the season with its loss, 0-2 in the conference.
Northwestern opened the scoring immediately in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) served a single into center field to kick off the festivities, stealing second later in the inning. With two outs, Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) hit a slow roller toward short that the third baseman cut over to glove, but her throw to first was high for an error to make Batts safe and allow Allard to cross the plate.
The Wildcats capitalized big time on the extended inning. Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) worked a full count after the error before sending her eighth home run of the season into the bleachers in left field to make it a 3-0 game. On the very next pitch from Purdue starter Suzie Rzegocki, Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) also went yard to nearly the exact same spot, pushing the NU edge to 4-0 at the end of the first with her seventh four-bagger of the year.
Pauly now has 47 home runs in her career while Haug has 11.
The Boilermakers fought back immediately in the top of the second. The first two Boilers to the plate reached via Wildcat errors, then Purdue loaded the bags with one out on a walk from Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias). The next batter hit a ball deep into the hole at short that Allard did very well to glove, taking it to third herself for the force out and limiting Purdue to one run on the play. Delaney then fanned the next hitter to end the frame.
In the bottom of the second, Northwestern continued to score and put its league-best speed on display. Three-consecutive one-out infield singles from Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King), Allard and Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) provided the offensive catalyst. Thompson swiped both second and third, coming home on Allard's hit. Allard then stole second, moved to third on Scharkey's base knock and came home when the throw to second on a Scharkey steal went into left field for an error, giving the Wildcats a 6-1 lead going into the third inning.
The four steals in the second frame and five to that point in the game made NU an even 60-for-64 in stolen base attempts on the season, good for a Big Ten-best .938 success rate.
Purdue again scratched together an answer to the NU rally right away in the top of the third. Back-to-back leadoff singles led to a run to make it a 6-2 game. That second runner eventually reached third with no outs, prompting Delaney to immediately strike out the next three batters to the plate to end the inning.
On a great day for scoring, Northwestern continued to do so in its half of the third. Haug led off with a walk, then gave way to pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest), who motored all the way around to score when Pauly doubled off the base of the fence in center after crushing a ball into the teeth of the wind. Pauly moved to third on the throw home, then crossed the plate on a Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) ground out to make the score 8-2 after the third.
Purdue refused to buck the game's trend, plating a pair in the top of the fourth. With two runners on and two outs, a very high pop fly to right got caught in the wind and blew itself away from the NU fielder tracking it down. The ball fell for a triple, cutting Northwestern's lead to four, 8-4. Delaney did record every out in the frame via the strikeout, giving her eight in the game through 4.0 innings pitched.
After six-consecutive half innings with runs across for both teams, Rzegocki held NU scoreless in the bottom of the fourth and Delaney had a perfect top of the fifth, capping the effort with her ninth strikeout of the game.
Purdue put the game's next runs on the board in the top of the sixth. A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out, with the next batter driving in a run on an RBI groundout followed by a two-run single to left scoring two more to trim NU's lead all the way down to one, 8-7. The next batter crushed a ball to the warning track in center, but Dyer did very well to drop step and sprint it, making it to the fence in time to preserve the Wildcats' lead.
Northwestern fought back with an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, Allard drew a walk before notching her third stolen base of the game. One out later, Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) laced a single just inside the line in left field to score Allard and push NU's lead back out to two, 9-7.
Delaney issued a walk to the leadoff Boilermaker in the top of the seventh, prompting head coach Kate Drohan to bring in Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) to attempt to get the save. Lamberth fanned the first batter she faced on three pitches, the second on six pitches and got a groundout to short to end the game.
Delaney (8-7) picked up the win, going 6.0 innings and allowing seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and four walks with nine strikeouts. Lamberth earned her second save of the year with a perfect seventh inning which included a pair of Ks.
At the plate, Allard paced NU with a pair of hits, three steals and three runs scored. Pauly went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs while Haug knocked in a pair.
Northwestern continues its current homestand next weekend, April 3-4, when No. 18 Illinois visits Sharon J. Drysdale Field. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT.
