Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Wisconsin
Wisconsin's Six-Run Comeback Stuns Northwestern, 9-8
4/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 9, 2011
Site: Madison, Wis. (Goodman Diamond)
Score: Wisconsin 9, Northwestern 8
Records: NU (18-10, 0-3 Big Ten), Wisconsin (20-14, 2-3 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: April 9, 2011 -- vs. Wisconsin (Goodman Diamond), Immediately
MADISON, Wis. -- Northwestern built a 6-0 lead over Wisconsin early in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader at Goodman Diamond, but the Badgers roared back with a six-run sixth inning to stun the Wildcats, 9-8.
Northwestern falls to 18-10 overall on the season with its loss, 0-3 in the Big Ten. Wisconsin now is 20-14 on the year with its win, 2-3 in the conference. The loss is Northwestern's first to a non-ranked team this season.
Northwestern got off to a very fast start thanks to its very fast top of the lineup. Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) ran her current hitting streak to 19 games to begin the contest, shooting a ball into center through a defensive shift that saw the right fielder come in to play first. Allard stole second (her 30th steal of the year in 31 attempts), then scored when Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) smashed a single that put a hole in the first baseman's glove before bouncing over to the fence beyond the NU dugout.
Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) brought Thompson all the way around from first with a double to the fence in right before, one out later, Monka came home on a Marisa Bast (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) single over the outstretched glove of the shortstop to give the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the first with two strikeouts for NU starter Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon), the Wildcats' offense got right back to work in the second. With one out in the frame, Allard drew a walk and Thompson singled on a purported sacrifice bunt attempt. Monka then clubbed a nearly identical double to her shot in the first, driving in both Allard and Thompson (with Thompson making the sprint from first to home for the second-straight inning). Wisconsin then elected to replace starter Cassandra Darrah (11-6) with Amanda Najdek.
Pinch runner Amanda Mehrsheikh (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Center) entered to run for Monka, moving to third on a Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) groundout and scoring on Bast's second bloop single of the day to make it a 6-0 contest.
Wisconsin got on the board in the bottom of the second when Shannel Blackshear hit a one-out, solo home run on the 16th pitch of her at-bat against Smith to make the score 6-1. The next batter walked before Allard ranged to her left to field a grounder, stepping on second and firing to Monka at first for an inning-ending double play.
The hit parade continued in the top of the third with NU compiling 11 total in the game by the end of the frame. Paige Tonz (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) ripped a one-out single back up the middle before being erased on a Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) fielder's choice grounder. Allard and Thompson both followed with hits to load the bags with two down, but Monka grounded out the end the frame. Monka's out was the first time in three trips through the order that Wisconsin had retired a batter in the top third of NU's lineup.
Smith set Wisconsin down 1-2-3 with a pair of Ks again in the third, then NU added one more run to its tally in the fourth. Batts led off with a walk, giving way to pinch runner Lauren Ackerman (St. Louis, Mo./Home schooled). Ackerman stole second, moved to third on a Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) groundout, then came home when Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) flared a single over the shortstop and into left to make it a 7-1 game.
Wisconsin got its second hit of the game against Smith in the bottom of the fourth, and again it was a one out, solo home run to make it a 7-2 contest.
Northwestern added another tally in the top of the fifth. Allard notched her 10th game this season with three-or-more hits with a one-out infield single before stealing second base. Thompson ripped her fourth single of the game almost through the legs of two different Badgers when she crushed a grounder into the teeth of Wisconsin's slapper shift, driving in Allard with the hit for another six-run NU lead.
The battle of single runs continued into the bottom of the fifth when a leadoff Wisconsin triple scored on a passed ball to account for an 8-3 score. Northwestern failed to score in its top of the sixth, then Wisconsin mounted its comeback, loading the bases with one out. The next Badger singled through the middle to drive in a pair and cut NU's lead to three, 8-5, prompting head coach Kate Drohan to insert Sammy Albanese into the circle in relief. Albanese got the first batter to ground out, but then a hit batter preceded a bases-clearing triple that knotted the game, 8-8. An error on a bunt single then allowed another run to come in, giving Wisconsin a 9-8 lead.
Allard notched her fourth hit of the game with one out in the seventh before she was erased on a Thompson fielder's choice. Wisconsin then intentionally walked Monka before a flyout to left ended the game.
Smith went 5.1 innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Albanese (4-4) took the loss during 0.2 innings of work, allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits and a strikeout.
Thompson's 4-for-5 day matched her previous career high for hits in a ballgame, established Feb. 20, 2009, against Oregon State. Allard was 4-for-4 with three runs and two steals. Monka finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Bast was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
Northwestern returns to action at 2 p.m. CT Wednesday, April 13, in a Big Ten doubleheader against Michigan State at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
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