May 4, 2000
CHICAGO, ILL. - Jenn Shull (San Jose, Calif.) laid down a two-strike squeeze bunt in the top of the ninth inning that scored Stacey Austin (Cincinnati, Ohio) with the gamewinning run as Northwestern salvaged a doubleheader split with DePaul with a stirring 3-2 victory in the nightcap. Northwestern stands at 25-21, DePaul is 29-18.
DePaul came out strong in game one, scoring five runs on with the benefit of only two hits in the second inning en route to a 7-2 win. After falling behind early, Northwestern picked up a run in the fourth on an RBI-single from Cindy Muran (Newbury Park, Calif.). They pulled within 5-2 on a solo home run from Alyson Schulz (San Diego, Calif.) in the sixth, but DePaul added a pair of insurance runs in its half of the inning to cement the win.
Game two was filled with drama. DePaul scored an unearned run in the first inning and carried the lead into the seventh inning. The Cats, who had managed only a first-inning double from Erin Jancic (Houston, Texas) in the first six innings, got a pinch single from Tami Jones (West Hills, Calif.) with one out. Rane Gunderson fell behind 0-2 before driving a 2-2 pitch over the leftfield fence for her first career home run. DePaul came back and loaded the bases with one out in the seventh and was able to tie the game on a wild pitch. The teams played a scoreless eighth inning, and Brooke Siebel (Brentwood, Tenn.) led off the NU ninth with a double down the leftfield line. Schulz sacrificed her to third before Shull laid down her perfect bunt to score pinch-runner Austin. DePaul put two runners on in the bottom of the ninth, but Lauren Schwendimann (Tustin, Calif.) fanned Jenny Davis to end the game. Brie Brown (Nashville, Tenn.) started and went 6.1 innings giving up only two unearned runs on nine hits. Schwendimann relieved and permitted only one hit in 2.2 innings, striking out five.
Northwestern closes out its regular season with a two-game series with Big Ten-leading Iowa this weekend. The action begins Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Anderson Field.