April 7, 2006
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- With junior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) throwing a shutout into the seventh inning of No. 15 Northwestern's Friday night contest at Penn State, sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) broke a scoreless tie in the final frame with her first home run of the season to give the Wildcats a 1-0 victory.
With the win, Northwestern improves to 24-8 on the season, 5-0 in the Big Ten. Penn State falls to 21-8 overall, 1-4 in the conference. The Wildcats have won their last seven games.
Canney finished the game with a three-hitter, surrendering one walk and striking out 11. She moves to 11-4 on the year with the win.
Northwestern opened the game by loading the bases against Penn State starter Missy Beseres (10-4). Freshman Tammy Williams (El Dorado Springs, Mo./Osceola) singled up the middle to lead off the first, then junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) slapped a ball to the third baseman, whose throw to second to get Williams was offline and skipped into right field. Williams advanced to third on the error before Logan stole second two pitches later.
With one out, senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) was hit by her ninth pitch of the year to load the bases, but Beseres retired the next two Wildcats to get out of the inning unscathed.
No runs would become a theme in this match-up between Beseres and Wildcat hurler Canney. Through five innings, both teams had just one hit, although Northwestern still did well to get on base. Seven Wildcats reached in the first five frames on the hit, an error, a hit by pitch and four walks.
The Nittany Lions' had just three runners reach against Canney in that time span. One came via an infield single in the second, which senior Ashley Crane (Sammamish, Wash./Eastlake) gloved with a great ranging dive to her left. Her flip to junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) was just a tad late to get the runner. PSU also put runners on first in the fifth inning on a one-out NU error and a walk.
Northwestern got its second hit of the game in the sixth when senior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) clubbed a two-out double off the left-centerfield fence. She was replaced at second by freshman Ann Schraufnagel (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest), but again inning ended with the game scoreless.
Penn State also netted its second hit of the game in the sixth with a two-out single up the middle. Northwestern retired the side with no harm when Hollee Haines hit a little flare just down the line in right, and freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) made a diving catch to possibly save a run.
In the top of the seventh, Sengewald took care of the scoreless situation. To lead off the frame, Sengewald worked a 3-1 count, then took off for first on the fifth pitch of the at-bat, but it was called strike two. Sengewald made the most of her extra cut, driving her first home run of the season over the left-centerfield fence for a 1-0 Northwestern lead.
Penn State led off the bottom of the seventh with a single through the left side of the infield. The 'Cats used a fielder's choice, a backwards `K' and a swinging whiff to end the game.
Beseres, whose older sister Jenni played at Northwestern from 1996-99, entered the game with an impressive 0.83 ERA.
Northwestern returns to action at 11 a.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, April 8, against Penn State.