March 25, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Senior Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) nearly notched her second no-hitter of the year against No. 25 California Sunday morning at the Women 4 Women Invitational, while the seventh-ranked Wildcats piled up 12 hits for themselves in a five-inning, 11-1 victory over the Bears.
Canney was perfect through three innings until Cal's Alex Sutton singled up the middle to lead off the fourth and break up the no-no. The hit was the first Cal had gotten against Canney this year in 9.0 innings after she no-hit the then-No. 11 Bears in a 10-1, six-inning Wildcats' win on Feb. 17 at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic.
Cal would add a solo home run with two outs in the fifth, but Canney allowed just the two hits and no walks in the game, upping her record to 12-6 with a 10-strikeout performance.
The run-rule win was Northwestern's second of the season over a ranked California team and its third over a ranked opponent after also mercy-ruling No. 9 Stanford this year. The Wildcats have won nine games in run-shortened fashion in 2007.
Overall on the season, the Wildcats now are 23-6, including a 9-3 record against ranked teams. California falls to 23-15 with the loss.
The Wildcats jumped all over Bears' starter Lauren Frankiewicz (10-6) in the first, knocking her out of the game after only three batters. Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off with a single into center before moving to second on a wild pitch. Sophomore Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) then drew a four-pitch walk.
Senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) followed with a blast off the light standard beyond the left-field fence to stake the Wildcats to a 3-0 lead and chase Frankiewicz without recording an out. Brittany LaRosa replaced her in the circle.
Cooper's home run was her 10th of the season and the 42nd of her career. Already the career NU home run leader, she now is the only Wildcat ever to notch double-digit blasts in all four of her seasons in purple.
One out after the Cooper bomb, sophomore Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) doubled into the left-centerfield gap with one out, then scored when sophomore Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) hit a flare single into center. Rigas moved up on the throw home on the play, then scored after two wild pitches from LaRosa to stake Northwestern starter Eileen Canney (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) to a 5-0 lead before she even entered the circle.
Like a music compilation TV commercial, the hits kept coming for the 'Cats in the third. Erin Dyer led off with a hard single through the left side, then was replaced at first by pinch runner Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley). Rigas followed with a bloop single down the left-field line to move Lafever to second.
Freshman Julia Sears (Chicago, Ill./Marist) -- into the game to play right field -- then doubled off the fence in dead center to score Lafever and move Rigas to third. A single to right by junior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) plated Rigas, and Sears came around to score as well when the ball was booted by the right fielder to make the score 8-0.
The Sengewald hit drove LaRosa from the circle in favor of Marissa Drewrey. A bunt single by Logan then moved Sengewald to second, and a Williams single to center drove in Logan to make the score 9-0 and move Sengewald to third, where she later scored on an RBI groundout from Cooper.
Williams would score the final run of the NU third when Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) singled back up the middle to give the Wildcats an 11-0 lead.
Williams' base hit in the frame coupled with her two runs in the contest extended her current hitting- and run scoring-streak to 15 games. She now has 40 runs scored on the season, already tying her for fourth in NU single-season history with teammate Logan's 2006 season. The sophomore's 105 career runs scored already tie her with Katie Ballman (1994-97) for fourth all-time at NU.
Meanwhile, Cal was whiffing at Canney's offerings. The senior fanned the side in the bottom of the third to reach six strikeouts in the game. The second K of the third inning gave her 900 for her career.
Logan finished a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs scored for NU, while both Erin Dyer and Rigas were 2-for-2. Both Rigas and Williams scored twice, while Cooper led NU with four RBIs. She now has a team-high 35 on the year.
Northwestern returns to action immediately against Liberty in its final game at the Women 4 Women Invitational.