April 1, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a two hour and 55 minute rain delay, No. 8 Northwestern hit five home runs and swept its Big Ten doubleheader against Michigan State Sunday afternoon with an 8-3, six-inning win in game two that was called due to darkness.
The win improves the Wildcats to 27-7 on the season, 3-1 in the Big Ten. The loss drops the Spartans to 18-16 overall, 0-2 in the conference.
Senior Katie Logan (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol) led off the game with a solo home run to left-center to give the Wildcats a quick 1-0 lead. The blast was her first of the season and the second of her career.
Sophomore Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) followed with a single through the right side of the infield to extend her current hitting streak to 20 games. After Garland Cooper (Mission Viejo, Calif./Santa Margarita Catholic) drew a walk, freshman Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) launched a home run to center to give NU a 4-0 lead still with no outs in the game.
Pauly's blast was her fourth of the season, and it extended her current hitting streak to 12 games. The homer knocked MSU starter Megan Hair (7-7) from the game in favor of Kelly Confer, who then retired the NU side to end the inning.
Michigan State loaded the bases in the bottom of the first after Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) hit two batters and MSU notched an infield single. A single into center then plated two runs to cut the Wildcats' lead in half, 4-2.
After the six-run first inning from both teams, Confer and Delaney settled in to hold the offenses scoreless through the next two frames. Michigan State would break through for an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to cut NU's lead to just one, 4-3.
The Wildcats answered with a bang in the top of the fifth -- three of them, in fact. Williams led off with a home run to center, her ninth of the season. One out later, Pauly launched her second homer of the game (and fifth of the season) to right field, then sophomore Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) followed immediately with a solo shot of her own to right-center to give NU three solo blasts in the inning and a four-run lead, 7-3. The home run was Dyer's sixth of the year.
After Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) singled through the left side, Michigan State replaced Confer in the circle with Lesley Noel. Freshman Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) pinch ran for Rigas, then stole second base.
After a productive groundout from Jessica Miller (Elberfeld, Ind./Techumseh) moved Euler to third, freshman Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) singled through the left side to drive in Euler and give NU a five-run lead, 8-3.
Delaney held Michigan State scoreless the rest of the way, including striking out the side in the bottom of the sixth before the game was called for darkness.
Delaney improved to 13-0 on the season with the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk with eight strikeouts in six innings of work.
Pauly went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, bringing her total on the day to eight and giving her 32 for the season, good for second on the team. Logan had three hits for the 'Cats, while Williams had two and scored twice. Cooper also had two hits for NU.
Northwestern returns to action at 4 p.m. CT Tuesday, April 3, against Northern Illinois at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.