April 19, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Junior Kristen Amegin (Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) launched the 21st home run of her career in a 8-2 win over Bradley Tuesday afternoon at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, making her the most prolific home run hitter in Northwestern history.
The blast put NU in the lead, 3-0, in the third inning of the contest. She hit it to right field, almost to the identical spot where she hit the record tying home run on April 3 against Iowa.
Amegin held the record jointly with Gretchen Barnes (1999-02) prior to her third-inning bomb. The homer was her 10th of the season, one shy of the Wildcat single-season home run record set by her teammate Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) last season.
In the game, the Wildcats were able to snuff out some early threats from the Braves before settling in offensively for the 8-2 win.
In the second inning, the Braves loaded the bases on a pair of walks and a single against Northwestern starter Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro), but Foster ended the inning on a strikeout.
In the third, Bradley put runners on the corners with no outs. Brittany Mynsberge then lined a ball right back at Foster, hitting her in the leg and bounding in the air to freshman Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East). Sengewald caught the ball on the fly to retire Mynsberge, then threw to Cooper at first to double up the runner.
Foster shook off the direct hit and struck out the final batter of the inning to end the threat.
In the third inning, Northwestern broke through to take the first lead of the game. Freshman Stephanie Churchwell (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) led off the inning with a single, then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei). After advancing to third on a groundout by Cooper, Churchwell scored on a single to center by junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill).
Sophomore Elizabeth Piatt (Monticello, Ill./Monticello) entered the game to pinch run, but did more jogging than running after Amegin hit her historic home run to right field.
The Braves got a run back in the top of the fourth when Sarah Mancuso hit a home run to left field, making the score 3-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, The Wildcats added two more runs. Freshman Kelly Odell (Portland, Ore./Westview) led off with double. Sengewald followed with a walk, then both runners advanced on a deep flyout by Churchwell.
With two outs, McCorkle lined a single to right and both Odell and Sengewald came around to score to give the Wildcats a 5-1 lead.
Sophomore Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) relieved Foster in the top of the fifth and pitched the rest of the way. Foster earned the win to improve to 15-4 on the season, allowing one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.
Bradley got one back in the top of the sixth, leading off the inning with a double and a single to score a run.
In the bottom of the sixth with daylight waning, McCorkle led off with a single before Cooper and Dotson drew bases on balls to load the sacks. Amegin came to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly, scoring McCorkle and allowing Cooper and Dotson to move up a base.
Junior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) then came in to pinch run at third for Cooper. Sophomore Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) followed with a double down the right field line for her second hit of the game, driving in Crane and Dotson to make the score 8-2 in favor of NU.
Canney earned the save, her first of the season, with three innings of work.
Molly Bergeson started for Bradley and went three innings to take the loss, dropping her record to 1-6. Rebecca Bishop pitched two-thirds of an inning and Brittany Dehler threw the final two and a third.
With the victory, Northwestern ties the second-best winning streak in program history at 14 games. The 1987 squad also had a 14-game streak. NU's overall record is now 32-9, while Bradley falls to 12-25.
The Wildcats return to action at 6 p.m. Wednesday at UIC.