April 17, 2004
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Freshman Garland Cooper hit a two-run, one-out walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday to vault Northwestern over Penn State at Nittany Lion Field, 2-0.
With the scoreboard chock full of zeros in the bottom of the seventh, Erin Mobley came to the plate with one out and shot a single off the second-base bag. Then Cooper felt the need for drama, driving a Shana Riggleman pitch over the left-field fence to end the game.
The blast was Cooper's sixth of the season, tying her with Kristen Amegin for the team lead. Her two RBIs give her 24 on the year, also good for tops on the team.
While it was Cooper who earned the glory, it was sophomore Courtnay Foster who turned in the most dominating performance of the afternoon. Foster (10-11) struck out 14 Penn State batters and allowed only two hits in earning her fifth shutout of the season.
The 14 whiffs are a season-high for Foster in a seven-inning game. She struck out 18 batters in a nine-inning contest with Coastal Carolina earlier in the year. She is now averaging 9.34 strikeouts per seven-innings, tops in the Big Ten.
While Foster was keeping the Nittany Lions at bay, Riggleman (4-2) was faring just as well against the Wildcat lineup. She struck out seven batters, and allowed only one hit -- a Jamie Dotson single to short in the third inning -- before the single and home run to end the game.
"Both pitchers did an outstanding job today," NU head coach Kate Drohan said. "Courtnay was unstoppable today, but Riggleman matched her intensity well."
The three hits were the fewest for Northwestern in a win this season. The Wildcats have won their last four games, matching their second-longest winning streak of the season. NU has also homered in its last four games, its longest consecutive games with a home run streak of the year.
With the win, Northwestern's record improves to 22-13 overall, 5-5 in the Big Ten. Penn State falls to 16-25 on the year, 2-6 in the conference. Northwestern returns to action Sunday with an 11 a.m. Central time doubleheader against the Buckeyes of Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.