April 3, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) tossed a one-hitter and Northwestern shut out No. 24 Iowa, 2-0, in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The Wildcats completed a perfect 4-0 opening Big Ten weekend -- the only Conference school to do so.
The last time the Wildcats began the League slate a perfect 4-0 was in 2002, when NU swept Indiana and Purdue before splitting with Illinois during a 5-0 start.
The 20th-ranked Wildcats improve to 22-9 overall with the win, while the Hawkeyes drop to 28-8, 1-3 in the Big Ten. NU is now 8-3 against ranked opponents this season.
Foster (10-4) struck out 12 in her third one-hit shutout of the season and the seventh of her career. She allowed just one double in the fifth inning and three baserunners the entire game.
Coming off an 11-1, five-inning victory in the day's first game, Game Two was a much lower-scoring affair.
The Wildcats got on the board in the second inning with a single run. Junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) led off with a single before freshman Kelly Odell (Portland, Ore./Westview) grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing McCorkle at second.
Freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) singled down the right-field line, pushing Odell to third. Odell then scored on a wild pitch from Hawkeye starter Lisa Birocci to give NU a 1-0 edge.
The Wildcats added another run in the fourth inning. McCorkle again led off the frame with a hit, this time a double to left. She then scored on an Odell single up the middle to push the NU cushion to 2-0.
McCorkle finished the game 3-for-3 with two doubles. Odell's RBI single was the first hit of her career. Senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) finished 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.
Sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) and junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) also record singles for NU.
Birocci suffered her second consecutive loss of the day for Iowa, dropping her record to 17-7.
Northwestern returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday, April 8, at Minnesota.