May 24, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. -- No. 2 Arizona State scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings before extending its lead for a 9-0, six-inning win Saturday afternoon at Farrington Stadium, eliminating No. 11 Northwestern from the 2008 NCAA Tournament with its victory in game two of the Tempe Super Regional.
The loss makes Northwestern's final record 40-16 on the 2008 season, marking the fourth-straight year NU has reached the 40-win mark. NU has finished among the nation's top 16 teams in each of the last four years.
Arizona State took the game's first lead immediately in the top of the first inning. Leadoff walks to the first two Sun Devil batters put runners at second and third with no outs following a wild pitch. After a foul out to Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) behind the plate, the next batter smacked a double to the fence in left to drive in a pair and give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. NU starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) then fanned the next two batters to end the frame.
The Sun Devils added two more in the top of the second inning, loading the bases with one out with the help of a walk and an intentional pass. Back-to-back singles drove in two to extend the ASU lead to four, 4-0, with runners ending up at second and third after the throw to the plate. Delaney again stemmed the tide with a strikeout and a pop up to Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) in shallow left.
Northwestern mounted a two-out rally in the bottom of the second, loading the bases with two outs against ASU starter Katie Burkhart after Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) legged out an infield single and Burkhart hit both Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) and Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) with pitches. The ASU ace was able to escape the inning with comebacker.
Delaney settled down after the first two frames, retiring seven Sun Devils in a row from the third inning until a leadoff infield single in the sixth. The Wildcats were able to notch base hits against Burkhart (36-5) on a Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) single in the third and Kelly Dyer's second hit of the game in the fourth, but did not threaten to score.
In that top of the sixth, ASU loaded the bases on a leadoff single, an intentional pass and another walk. After a walk pushed across a run, the Sun Devils hit a grand slam to account for the final 9-0 score.
Kelly Dyer led NU at the plate in the game with a 2-for-2 effort.
Delaney (37-11) allowed nine runs on eight hits and 10 walks with eight strikeouts in the game. She finished the season with 461 strikeouts, ranking just behind Lisa Ishikawa's school and then-NCAA record total of 469 set in 1984.
Delaney did conclude her sophomore campaign with several NU single-season records, establishing marks for wins (37), games (51), complete games (43) and innings pitched (322.0).
The game marked the final contest in purple for senior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), who drove in NU's run in Friday's 3-1 loss to Arizona State. Sengewald was a part of 184 wins at Northwestern, more than any other previous Wildcat. She ranks third in NU history with 91 walks and sixth with 112 runs scored.