Northwestern Falls at Illinois, 5-3

5/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball

May 1, 2011

Box Score

Site: Urbana, Ill. (Eichelberger Field)
Score: Illinois 5, Northwestern 3
Records: NU (22-15, 4-8 Big Ten), Illinois (22-20, 9-7 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: May 4, 2011 -- vs. Minnesota (Drysdale Field), 2 p.m. CT (DH)

URBANA, Ill. -- Northwestern built several rallies Sunday in the second game of its series at Illinois, but the Wildcats had trouble getting the hits to drive in runners in a 5-3 loss.

Northwestern falls to 22-15 on the year with its loss, 4-8 in the Big Ten. Illinois now is 22-20 on the season, 9-7 in the conference after its win.

In the top of the first, Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) led off with a single before stealing second base. Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) deftly sacrificed Allard to third before Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) drew her fifth walk of the series and her school-record 50th of the season. She advanced to second on a Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) groundout, but Illinois got out of the jam when its right fielder make a fantastic sliding basket catch on a liner off the bat of Marisa Bast (Orange, Calif./Villa Park) to end the frame.

Illinois took the game's first lead in the bottom of the first, turning a walk and a two-out double into two runs on a two-out single that got just by the out-stretched glove of a diving Bast at second. In the bottom of the second inning, Illinois threatened again, getting a runner to third with one out. The next batter hit a comebacker to Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) in the circle, who froze the runner before firing to first. The runner still took off for home and Monka cannoned the ball home where Paige Tonz (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) applied the tag in plenty of time to complete the inning-ending 1-3-2 double play.

In the top of the third, Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) led off with a spinny single on the infield. Allard sacrificed her to second, then Thompson was hit by a pitch and Monka drew a walk to load the bases. Batts then received a four-pitch walk to force a run across, but a pop out and a strikeout ended the threat with no further runs across.

In the bottom of the third, Illinois got a leadoff single followed by a two-run home run to give the home team a 4-1 lead. At that point, freshman Sammy Albanese (Belmont, Calif./Castilleja) entered the circle in relief of Lamberth. Albanese ended the inning with the help of a great diving catch in left by Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) before Tonz threw out a would-be base stealer from her knees.

Wheeler immediately led off the fourth with a bomb of a double to the fence in right center that extended her current hitting streak to 13 games. She moved to second on a Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) sacrifice, but a sharp ground ball from Scharkey found the glove of a perfectly positioned second baseman to contribute to Wheeler being stuck at third when the frame ended.

Illinois loaded the bases with one out against Albanese in the bottom of the fourth, but the freshman got a comebacker for a force at home before the next batter grounded out to Bast at second to keep NU within three, 4-1.

Northwestern responded to getting out of the bases-loaded jam by creating one of its own in the top of the fifth. Thompson reached as the leadoff batter on an error before back-to-back walks issued to Monka and Batts loaded the bases with no outs. Pinch runner Amanda Mehrsheikh (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) entered to run at first for Batts. The next batter to the plate was Bast. She crushed a 1-0 count foul-ball home run that missed being a grand slam by inches before drawing a walk to force Thompson home and make the score 4-2. At that point, Illinois replaced starter Pepper Gay (16-13) in the circle with Jackie Guy.

One out later, Wheeler lifted a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score Monka from third on a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to one, 4-3, before the inning ended.

Illinois got a run back in the fifth after a bases-loaded, two-out wild pitch brought home a run to push the Wildcats' deficit back out to two, 5-3. When the batter at the plate walked to re-load the bags, Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) entered the circle in relief of Albanese. Smith coaxed a grounder to third that Thompson dove to glove before scrambling to her feet and racing to the third-base bag to end the inning.

Both teams traded zeroes in the sixth inning before NU tried to rally one last time in the top of the seventh. Monka worked her fourth walk of the game to lead off the frame, then Bast clubbed a one-out double to right center. Lauren Ackerman (St. Louis, Mo./Home schooled), who had entered the game in a double switch when Smith came in to pitch, walked to load the bases, but NU was unable to push any of those runs across before the game ended.

Lamberth (8-1) took her first loss of the year in the game, throwing 2.0 innings and allowing four runs on five hits and two walks. Albanese threw 2.2 innings and surrendered one run on three hits and five walks. Smith went 1.1 innings of work, giving up no runs on one hit with a strikeout.

For the second-straight game, Monka walked four times and did not have an official plate appearance. Her streak of reaching base in consecutive plate appearances now is at 22.

Northwestern returns to action in a 2 p.m. CT doubleheader Wednesday, May 4, against Minnesota at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.

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