March 25, 2005
Box Score
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Time and again this season, No. 20 Northwestern has proved it belongs among the nation's elite softball programs. The Wildcats showcased that again Friday afternoon at the Stanford Tournament, whipping the No. 5 Cardinal, 7-2.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 2-1 on the weekend and 18-8 overall. Stanford falls to 2-1 in its tournament and 21-4 overall.
Northwestern is now 3-0 against the Cardinal during NU Head Coach Kate Drohan's tenure. The Wildcats also defeated Stanford last season, 4-2, and earlier this year at the Worth Invitational in Fullerton, 6-1. NU has tagged the Cardinal with two of their four losses this season.
Northwestern closes its nonconference slate against the heralded Pac-10 Conference with a 4-3 record. The Wildcats have defeated No. 2 Cal and No. 12 Washington in addition to their two wins over Stanford.
Against teams ranked in the top-25, NU is 6-3 on the year, including a 3-1 record against foes ranked in the top-five. The Wildcats' lone loss to a top-five opponent was a 4-3, eight-inning decision against then No. 1 Arizona in the fourth game of the season.
On Friday, Northwestern jumped on the Cardinal early -- and hard. Senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) hit a one-out single up the middle before sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) drew a four-pitch walk. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch.
Junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) then continued to rip apart the pitching at the Stanford Tournament, lacing a double just inside the right field line to score both runners. The double was Dotson's sixth of the tournament and her 10th of the season.
With Dotson on second, junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) hit an absolute bomb over the center field wall to put the Wildcats up 4-0 after one inning of play.
The Cardinal replaced starter Lauren Nydam with Laura Severson to start the second inning.
The Wildcats continued to apply the pressure in the third. Mobley again hit a one-out single, then Cooper launched her fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to push NU's lead to 6-0.
The Cardinal joined the homer party in the fourth, hitting a two-run job to cut the Wildcat lead to 6-2.
Freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) struck back with a frozen rope over the fence in left for her first career home run in the bottom of the fourth, giving NU a 7-2 cushion. Sengewald's home run chased Severson from the circle for Stanford, and the score remained static the rest of the way.
Mobley finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 for the Wildcats.
Sophomore Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) (10-3) recorded her second win over the Cardinal this season, pitching 6.2 innings and striking out six in the game. She allowed two runs on seven hits, and now owns wins in all three of Northwestern's victories over top-five opponents this year.
In the Wildcats' 6-1 win over Stanford on March 5 of this year, Canney went the distance and allowed one run on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts to get the win.
After Stanford put two baserunners on with two outs in the seventh, junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) entered the circle in relief. She hit the first batter she faced, then struck out the final Cardinal batter with the bases loaded to end the game.
Nydam took the loss for Stanford, dropping her record to 6-2 on the year.
Wildcat pitching coach Tori Nyberg pitched for Stanford from 2000-03. As a coach, she is now 3-0 against her alma mater. She coached last year with Illinois-Chicago, which defeated the Cardinal last season.
Northwestern concludes its Stanford Tournament slate at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 26, against Big Ten foe Illinois. That game immediately precedes the Wildcats' Conference-opening series on April 1-2, also against the Illini.