May 10, 2003
Box Score
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Jessie Wellnitz (Waterloo, Iowa/East) couldn't have written a better script. With runners at first and second and no one out in the bottom of the eighth, the Iowa native failed to get a bunt down. Instead, she decided to send Northwestern to the Big Ten Tournament championship game with one swing of the bat. The senior's second career home run gave the Wildcats a storybook 6-3 win and the right to face Iowa for the title.
Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) led off the inning with a walk, prompting Michigan State to bring back in starter Stephanie Christner, who had been replaced by Jessica Beech. Christner walked J.C. Kira (Honolulu, Hawaii/Saint Francis), giving NU runners at first and second with no one out. Wellnitz failed on two bunt attempts before depositing the walk-off home run over the fence in left field.
The Wildcats (35-16) will have another opportunity to knock off the Hawkeyes (40-13) after dropping a tight 2-1 decision to them Friday night. The winner earns the Big Ten's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Michigan State got runners to second and third with only one away in the first, but starter Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) was able to work her way out of the jam. Foster got Tiffany Wallace to pop out to McCorkle at second and Janette Hurtado to lift one to Robyn Pettinger (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd) at short.
The Spartans got a two-out, two-run single from Wallace in the third to take a 2-0 lead. Margaret Schick led off the inning with a double, the senior's first extra-base hit of her career. Brittany Green followed with a walk and both runners moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt by Sandy Lewis. Foster fanned Natalie Furrow for the second out, but Wallace blooped a basehit into short right-center, scoring two.
NU evened the score in the bottom half of the inning, thanks in part to a pair MSU errors. Wellnitz opened the frame with a walk and moved up to third as Brett Nakabayashi (Irvine, Calif./Irvine) reached first on a throwing error by Green. Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) knocked home Wellnitz with an RBI single. Nakabayashi originally held at third on the play, but Wallace's throw home was errant, eluding catcher Lacy Hauxhurst and allowing Nakabayashi to race to the plate with the tying run.
Michigan State retook the lead in the top of the fifth as they touched Foster for three consecutive singles, chasing her from the game. Lauren Schwendimann (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) came on in relief and limited the Spartans to one run. Furrow's sacrifice fly to left scored Margaret Schick from third, but consecutive groundouts prevented MSU from building on its lead.
Northwestern mounted a miraculous rally in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game. Mobley and Muran recorded back-to-back singles up the middle with two away, prompting Michigan State to pull Christner in favor of Beech. Beech, who shut down Michigan in the wee hours of the morning just a few hours earlier, was greeted rudely by Schwendimann. Her first pitch was lined up back up the middle, scoring Mobley from second and tying the score.
Pinch runner Brie Brown advanced to third on the play, prompting the Spartans to intentionally walk Pettinger, loading the bases in the process. The gamble paid off as Beech got Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) on a called third strike, sending NU to its third extra-inning game of the tournament.
The 'Cats averted disaster in the top of the eighth thanks an outstanding defensive play by Kira. After MSU got the first two runners of the inning on base thanks to an error and a basehit, Angel Merren moved both runners up on a sacrifice bunt. The Spartans appeared to have perfectly executed a suicide squeeze by Schick on the next play, but Kira blocked off Beech from reaching the plate as Muran flipped a back-handed toss to Kira, who applied the tag for the second out. Green followed with a scorching line drive to right field that Mobley was barely able to reach up and squeeze to end the inning.
Mobley and Muran recorded two hits apiece for Northwestern. MSU outhit the 'Cats 9-8 and stranded 10 baserunners compared to nine for the Spartans.