March 25, 2006
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- No. 18 Northwestern out-hit Long Beach State, 11-6, and held a three-run lead Saturday afternoon at the 49ers softball complex, but the home team staged a late-inning comeback to defeat the Wildcats, 6-5.
With the loss, Northwestern falls to 17-8 on the season. Long Beach improves to 15-14.
Northwestern loaded the bases with its first three batters of the game. Freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) led off with a single up the middle, then advanced to second when junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) singled to the pitcher. A ground ball from junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) was mishandled at short for an error to juice the bags.
Senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) then hit a little flare toward second that Tiffanie Wedell caught with an over-the-shoulder lunge behind the bag. Her momentum carried her into center field, and Williams alertly scampered home to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead on the sacrifice fly.
Senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) followed with a high fly ball into right that was caught, but a perfect throw from the right fielder nailed Logan attempting to tag up to end the inning.
Long Beach State immediately tied the game in bottom half of the frame with a leadoff solo home run.
The Wildcats regained the lead right away in the second. With one out, freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) rifled a single into left field before advancing to second on a groundout by senior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake). Sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) then blooped a single into left just out of the reach of the shortstop, and a hustling Dyer beat the throw home for a 2-1 NU lead. Sengewald moved to second on the throw home.
Williams then shot a single back up the middle to plate Sengewald from second and extend that advantage to two, 3-1.
The 49ers added a run to their tally in the bottom of the second, turning a leadoff double into a score after the Wildcats overthrew first base on a sacrifice attempt.
Northwestern put two more on the board in the top of the fourth. With one out, Sengewald singled into left, but was erased on a Williams' fielder's choice grounder. With Logan at the plate, Williams stole second, then moved to third on Logan's third single of the game.
Cooper stepped to the plate and lined a double to the base of the fence in center to score both runners and give Northwestern a 5-2 lead.
The double was the 38th of her career, tying her with Erin Jancic (1999-02) for the all-time lead in Northwestern history.
Long Beach State tied the score again in the bottom of the inning, hitting a two-out, three-run home run to knot the game, 5-5. After the runs, junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) replaced Northwestern starter Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) in the circle.
Long Beach took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth. After a leadoff walk, a one-out triple down the right-field line put the 49ers up by one, 6-5.
Canney (7-4) was tagged with the loss for the Wildcats.
Logan finished 3-for-4 with a run scored for the `Cats, while Williams and Sengewald both had a pair of hits. Cooper drove in two runs and Williams scored twice.
Northwestern returns to action at 3 p.m. CT (1 p.m. PT) tomorrow, Sunday, March 26, at No. 1 UCLA.