Feb. 23, 2008
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) hit a three-run, sixth-inning home run Saturday evening to propel No. 2 Northwestern to a 6-4, come-from-behind victory over No. 6 LSU at the Palm Springs Classic.
The win improves Northwestern to 6-1 on the season, while LSU's loss drops it to 9-2 on the year.
Northwestern put the pressure on LSU starter Tiffany Garcia immediately in the bottom of the first inning. Senior Darcy Sengewald (Franfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) drew a leadoff, four-pitch walk, then moved to second when Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) shot a single through the left side of the infield.
One out later, back-to-back walks to freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) and junior Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) forced Sengewald across the plate for a 1-0 lead, but the rally would end with just that one run.
LSU evened the score with a two-out, solo home run in the top of the second against Northwestern starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias).
One inning later, Batts put Northwestern back in front with a solo shot of her own, sending a ball over the fence in left for a 2-1 NU lead. The homer was Batts' second of the season.
In a game quickly turning into a homer fest, LSU added a pair of solo shots in the top of the fourth to take its first lead of the game, 3-2.
Northwestern mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth when freshman Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) singled to third, Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) was hit by a pitch and Sengewald worked her second walk of the game, but LSU starter Tiffany Garcia got out of the inning with no damage done.
The Tigers added another run in the top of the fifth, getting runners at second and third with two outs on a pair of singles. An error with the ball getting into right field allowed one run to come home, but Wheeler's absolute gun of an arm nailed the trailing runner at the plate to end the inning with the Wildcats' deficit at two, 4-2.
Northwestern got one run back in the bottom half of the fifth inning. Pauly led off with a double, hitting a texas-leaguer popup behind second that fell just out of the reach of a charging center fielder. She then stole third on the fourth pitch of a walk to Batts. Sophomore Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) replaced Batts at first.
With Pauly now on third, Rigas lifted a fly ball into right that was caught deep enough for Pauly to come home and cut the NU deficit to one, 4-3.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sengewald drew a two-out walk -- her third of the game -- and LSU elected to replace Garcia in the circle with Dani Hofer, who immediately hit Williams with a pitch to put two runners on.
Pauly followed with a drive deep into the desert night in left field to push Northwestern back into the lead, 6-4. The homer was the second of the season for Pauly and the 16th of her career.
Delaney then came back to the circle and got a pair of flyouts and a final strikeout to close the game. Delaney moves to 5-1 on the season with the win, going the distance and allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk with 12 strikeouts.
Garcia went 5.2 innings for LSU, giving up four runs on four hits and six walks with five strikeouts. Hofer (6-1) was charged with the loss, officially going one third of an inning and allowing two runs on one hit.
Pauly finished with two hits, three RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Rigas drove in two and Sengewald scored twice for the 'Cats.