May 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In a rematch of last season's winner's bracket game at the NCAA Regional in South Bend, Ind., 2006 No. 4 overall seed Northwestern blasted Notre Dame, 9-0, in five innings Saturday morning at Sharon J. Drysdale Field to advance to the regional championship game Sunday.
The Wildcats will face Notre Dame again at noon Sunday, May 21, for the right to go to the Super Regional round of 16. The Irish advanced to championship Sunday after defeating Southern Illinois, 5-4, in an elimination game Saturday afternoon. ND needs to defeat Northwestern twice to win the Regional, while the Wildcats need just one victory.
The five-inning win against Notre Dame was Northwestern's first by run-rule out of 39 NCAA Tournament games in program history. NU has defeated ND in the last four meetings between the teams.
Northwestern's overall record now is 44-12, setting a program high for wins in a single season. The Wildcats' previous program-best record was 43-13 set in 1987 -- the last year NU advanced to the Women's College World Series.
Last season in South Bend, the Wildcats and Irish faced each other in the winner's bracket game, with ND relegating NU to the loser's bracket with a 4-3 win. Northwestern then came back to win three-consecutive games -- including two against Notre Dame on championship Sunday -- to advance to the Super Regionals.
Northwestern jumped all over Notre Dame starter Heather Booth to begin Saturday's contest. Junior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) singled to short on the first pitch of the game, then scored the first run of the game one out later when junior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) doubled to the fence in left.
The two-bagger was Cooper's 22nd of the season and the 49th of her career. She holds both the Northwestern single-season and career records for doubles.
Junior Jamie Dotson (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) followed with a single up the middle to move Cooper to third, then pinch runner Ann Schraufnagel (Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) replaced Dotson at first. With two outs, senior Sheila McCorkle (Costa Mesa, Calif./Mater Dei) drew a walk to load the bases.
Freshman Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) cleared the bases with a soaring drive to the fence in left-center that fell just out of the reach of Jessica Hufnagle for a double. Cooper, Schraufnagel and McCorkle all scored to give the 'Cats a 4-0 cushion before starting pitcher Courtnay Foster (Tucson, Ariz./Sahuaro) took the circle for the first time.
After Foster pitched her way out of a bases-loaded situation in the bottom half of the first with a strikeout, the Wildcats continued to pound Booth.
Sophomore Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) led off the second with a single back up the middle, then moved to second when Logan notched her second infield single of the game. Freshman Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) then ripped a double down the right-field line to score Sengewald for a 5-0 lead.
Williams' hit knocked Booth out of the game; she was replaced by Brittney Bargar.
Cooper immediately drew a walk to load the bases with one out, then Dotson hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Logan and push NU's advantage to six, 6-0.
Northwestern poured more fuel on the fire in the fourth, reaching mercy-rule territory with a three-spot. Williams began the frame with a slow grounder to shortstop, reaching on an error. She then stole second and moved to third when catcher Mallorie Lenn's throw sailed into centerfield.
Dotson drew a walk to put runners on first and third with one out, then senior Kristen Amegin (West Sacramento, Calif./Elk Grove) laced a double down the right-field line to plate Williams and move Dotson to third. Freshman Gina Gonzalez (LaVerne, Calif./Bonita) replaced Amegin on the base paths.
McCorkle made the score 8-0 with an RBI groundout to second to score Dotson, then Dyer drove in her fourth run of the game with her second double, this one crushed into the left-centerfield gap to extend the NU lead to nine, 9-0.
Foster kept the Irish scoreless to end the game in five innings. She allowed four hits and two walks while striking out five to move to 22-6 on the season, matching her career-best win total set last season. She now has six shutouts on the season, including three in a row. She has not allowed a run in her last 20.1 innings pitched.
Dyer finished the game 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs. Logan also had a pair of hits and scored twice. The Wildcats clubbed five doubles in the game, with Cooper, Williams and Amegin adding two-baggers to Dyer's pair.