Feb. 25, 2007
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Trailing by six in the seventh inning, No. 7 Northwestern mounted a comeback that fell just short in an 8-6 loss Sunday morning to No. 12 UCLA at the Palm Springs Classic.
The loss drops Northwestern to 10-5 on the season, 4-1 in the Classic, while UCLA improves to 10-5 with the victory.
Northwestern got the first run of the game in the top of the first. Sophomore Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) hit a sharp two-out grounder toward Jodie Legaspi at short, where it went right through the wickets and rolled all the way to the fence in left-center for a two-base error. Freshman Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) followed with a line-drive double into right-center that scored Williams to give NU a 1-0 lead.
UCLA struck back for a pair right away in the bottom of the first. After a double, Lisa Dodd hit a two-run home run to left field to give the Bruins a 2-1 lead in the contest.
Northwestern mounted its next rally in the top of the third. Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off with a single back up the middle, then moved to second when senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) drew a walk.
After a fielder's choice erased Logan at third and put Williams on first, Pauly drew a walk to load the bases with one out, but UCLA starter Angelica Selden got a pair of strikeouts to end the inning with no NU damage.
The Bruins then mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the third, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but Canney got a K to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth the Bruins put runners on first and second with one out before Krista Colburn lined a ball into right field that Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) charged, but the sinking liner popped in and out of her glove to score one run on the error and give the Bruins a 3-1 advantage.
With the same score in the top of the fifth, Cooper led off with a bomb over the left-center field fence to bring the Wildcats back to within one, 3-2. The blast was Cooper's team-leading fifth of the season and the 37th of her career.
Cooper now has homered off Selden (5-3) in the last three games Northwestern has played against UCLA, including blasts in the two meetings between the schools last season.
The Bruins got that run back in the bottom of the fifth, cashing in on a leadoff double to push its lead back to two, 4-2, before three-straight singles to lead off the sixth led to a Legaspi grand slam that broke the game wide open, 8-2.
After the blast, freshman Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo,/Helias) came in to relieve Canney (4-5) in the circle, retiring the first three batters she faced to get out of the sixth. The book closed on Canney after she went 6+ innings, allowing 10 hits and eight runs (seven earned) with eight strikeouts.
In the seventh, Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) led off with a single, then was erased on a fielder's choice ball by Logan. Back-to-back singles from Cooper and Williams scored Logan to cut the lead to five, 8-3.
After another fielder's choice made two outs in the inning, Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) hit a soaring home run over the left-field fence to cut the deficit to just two, 8-6, but the rally would end there.
Cooper finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, while Dyer had three RBIs for the 'Cats.
Northwestern returns to action next weekend at the Worth Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton.