March 25, 2007
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- No. 7 Northwestern concluded its 11-day, 10-game spring break road trip Sunday afternoon with an 8-0, six-inning win against Liberty at the Women 4 Women Invitational in Louisville, Ky.
The win improves Northwestern's overall record to 24-6, 3-1 at the Women 4 Women Invitational. The Wildcats went 9-1 overall on their spring break trip, which included a 4-0 mark at the Tiger Invitational in Columbia, Mo., and a sweep of a doubleheader at St. Louis.
With Sunday's loss, Liberty falls to 15-12 on the year and 1-3 at Women 4 Women Invite.
Northwestern began its second game Sunday much in the same fashion as its first. Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) reached base as the leadoff batter when she was hit by a pitch, then came home one out later when senior Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) launched a home run to left field for a 2-0 NU lead.
Cooper previously had jacked a three-run, first-inning homer in NU's Sunday morning contest against No. 25 California. The home run against Liberty was Cooper's 11th of the season, matching the NU all-time leader's single-season career high reached in 2004 and 2005. The Wildcats' single-season record is 14, set by both Kristen Amegin (2003-06) in 2005 and by current 'Cat Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) in 2006.
Cooper now has 43 home runs in her career, tying her with Minnesota's Shannon Beeler (1996-99) for third in the history of the Big Ten conference.
The Wildcats added another run in the bottom of the third. With two outs, Williams doubled to the fence in right field, then Cooper drove her home with a single to right to make the score 3-0.
Williams' hit and run extended her current streak of consecutive games with at least one hit and one run scored to 16.
Liberty put together its first threat of the game against Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) in the fourth. An error and a walk coupled with a wild pitch put runners at second and third with one out, but Delaney got a strikeout and a groundout to Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln Way East) at third to end the frame with no runs across.
In the NU fourth, sophomore Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) drew a leadoff walk, then was replaced by pinch runner Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley). Lafever stole second, then two outs later Sengewald walked and Liberty elected to replace starting pitcher Terra Lowe (5-4) with Sarah Ellis, who got Logan to foul out to the catcher on a tremendous diving grab up the third-base line to end the inning.
Liberty mounted another rally in the fifth. A walk and a pair of goofy bouncing infield singles loaded the bases with one out, then Sengewald charged a slow roller and threw quickly to Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) covering the plate for the force and out number two in the frame. Delaney then whiffed the next batter to escape the inning with her shutout intact.
Williams led off the fifth with a sharp single back up the gut, then moved to second when Cooper drew a base on balls. Freshman Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) advanced both runners with a sacrifice bunt, then freshman Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) took Cooper's spot at second. One out later, Rigas walked to load the bases with two gone.
Freshman Julia Sears (Chicago, Ill./Marist) drove both Williams and Euler in with a single to right, advancing Rigas to third and making the score 5-0 in favor of the Wildcats. After Sears stole second, freshman Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) singled up the middle to score Rigas before Sears was thrown out at the plate to end the inning with NU up by six, 6-0.
In the bottom of the sixth, Logan, Williams and Cooper hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with one out. Pauly then singled up the middle to score both Logan and Williams and end the game early, 8-0.
Delaney picked up her fifth shutout of the season to improve to a perfect 12-0 on the year. She allowed three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
Cooper and Williams both finished the game with three hits, with Williams scoring three times and Cooper driving in three runs. Logan scored twice, while Sears and Pauly both drove in two for the 'Cats.
Sengewald finished the game with one walk, giving her 66 for her career to move her up to sixth on NU's career list.
Northwestern returns to action in its Big Ten and Sharon J. Drysdale Field opener at 3 p.m. Friday, March 30, against No. 9 Michigan.