April 12, 2000
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
EVANSTON, ILL. - The Northwestern softball team opened its 2000 home season with a doubleheader split against No. 25 Illinois-Chicago. The Wildcats overwhelmed the Flames, 15-1, in the opener, before UIC won the nightcap, 3-1. Northwestern is now 15-16 for the season, while UIC stands at 38-21.
Northwestern used the long ball effectively in the Game 1 romp. After going down in order in the first inning, NU's bats got going in the second. With one out and a runner on first, senior Tami Jones laced a single to left-center. It was the first of six consecutive singles by Northwestern, with Mikie Chambers (Country Club Hills, Ill.) capping the barrage to give the Cats a 4-0 lead. After an RBI ground out by Erin Jancic (Houston, Texas), Brooke Siebel singled to drive home two more runs as NU built a 7-0 lead after two innings.
The Wildcats batted around again the third, adding six runs on a pair of home runs. After a one-out double from Alyson Schulz (San Diego, Calif.), Gretchen Barnes (Flossmoor, Ill.) took an 0-1 pitch over the wall in leftfield. A walk and two singles loaded the bases, before Jancic cleared them with a line drive over the centerfield fence for a grand slam. Barnes added another homer in the fourth, her fourth of the season, to close the scoring.
Freshman Lauren Schwendimann (Tustin, Calif.) continued to pitch well, shutting down the Flames on three hits to win for the sixth time in seven starts.
Runs were hard to come by in game two, and UIC made the most of its opportunities and salvaged a split with a 3-1 win. Two Northwestern errors led to two unearned runs for UIC in the second inning. The Wildcats got one back in the third on an RBI single by Jancic, but could not get the equalizer.
Northwestern gets back to Big Ten play this weekend, traveling to Purdue for a doubleheader on Friday before moving on to Bloomington for single games Saturday and Sunday against Indiana.