April 15, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- On the opening day of Indiana University's famous Little 500 bike race, No. 16 Northwestern rode circles around the IU softball team at the Indiana Softball Complex, defeating the Hoosiers, 10-0, in six innings.
With the win, the Wildcats extend their current winning streak to nine games and improve to 27-9 overall. Northwestern's streak is its best since a 14-game streak in 1987.
With the loss, the Hoosiers fall to 12-28 overall, 2-5 in the Big Ten.
The Wildcats wasted no time putting Indiana in a huge hole, scoring three runs in both the first and second innings.
In the first, senior Erin Mobley (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) was hit by a pitch with one out, then moved to second on a single by sophomore Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic). Junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) drew a walk to load the bases.
Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) then broke out of a five-game slump with a single through the left side to score Mobley. With Dotson standing on second base, sophomore Elizabeth Piatt (Monticello, Ill./Monticello) replaced her on the basepaths.
Junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) followed with a ball to the shortstop, who threw home to try to nail Cooper, but the throw sailed wide allowing Piatt to scamper in as well, giving Northwestern an early 3-0 lead.
The Wildcats continued to pour on the pressure in the second inning. Sophomore Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) hit the second double of her career, then moved to third on a single by freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro).
After Churchwell stole second, Mobley cleared the bases with a no-doubt home run over the right field wall to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.
The four-bagger gave Mobley 277 total bases for her career, breaking the all-time Northwestern record of 276 set by Erin Jancic from 1999-2002. The home run was the 15th of her career, tying her for sixth-place all-time.
The Hoosiers did a good job shutting down the Northwestern offense until the sixth inning, but Indiana's batters were no match for NU sophomore Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise). She threw five shutout innings in the circle for Northwestern, upping her record to 15-4 and allowing just two hits and a walk while striking out four.
Bogado pitched the first four innings for Indiana, then was relieved by Katie Witham to start the fifth.
In the sixth frame, Logan led off with her second hit of the game, then advanced to third when a Churchwell fly ball was dropped in left field for an error. A high fly ball by Mobley then dropped in between three Hoosiers for a double to drive in Logan and make the score 7-0.
The RBI was Mobley's fourth of the game, setting a new career-best for the senior. Logan's two-hit game was her eighth of the season.
With runners on second and third and first base open, Cooper drew a walk to load the bases for Dotson. The Conference's RBI leader in Big Ten games laced a single into right field, plating Churchwell and Mobley to push NU's lead over the run-rule threshold, 9-0.
Amegin followed with a line-shot that was trapped by the shortstop, who went to second to throw out Dotson. Cooper scored from third on the play to give Amegin her second RBI of the game and make the score 10-0 in NU's favor.
Sophomore Megan Hinck (Hawthorn Woods, Ill./Lake Zurich) came in to pitch a scoreless sixth inning for the Wildcats, closing out the game in her fifth appearance of the season.
The Wildcats and the Hoosiers will hook up again at noon tomorrow, Saturday, April 16.