Feb. 21, 2009
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. -- Senior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) broke the Northwestern career record for hits Saturday morning against Long Island, surpassing Garland Cooper's (2004-07) mark of 265 with a four-hit performance in an 11-6 loss to the Blackbirds.
Williams' 4-for-4 performance consisted of four singles. She tied the mark with hit No. 265 in the fourth inning before breaking it with a sixth-inning RBI single. The performance was the fifth four-hit game of her career. Williams now owns NU's career records for hits and runs while also ranking first in career batting average for the 'Cats.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 7-5 overall on the year while the Blackbirds improve to 3-4 with its victory.
Long Island took the game's first lead with a two-run home run in the top of the first against Northwestern starter Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport). The Blackbirds added a three-run blast later in the inning and junior Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) came in to replace Dyer in the circle.
After Delaney came into the circle, a couple of errors allowed a sixth Blackbird runner to score but the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Year controlled the inning from there.
Northwestern immediately set to work cutting into the Long Island lead. Williams led off with a single into right before stealing second base. Sophomore Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) drew a walk before both runners moved up on a Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) sacrifice bunt. A Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) groundout brought Williams home to make the score 6-1. The run was the 200th of Williams' career.
The Wildcats got another run in the bottom of the second with a two-out rally. Dyer began it with a sharp single into right before she stole second base. A single into right from Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) brought home Dyer to make the score 6-2. Williams followed with a single of her own but the inning would end there.
Thompson led off the third with a hard one-hop single that nearly gave the third baseman an impromptu haircut as it zipped over her head. Thompson then stole second and moved to third when the catcher's throw sailed into center. Pauly was hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners, then one out later Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) hit an RBI groundout to score Thompson and cut the original lead down to half, 6-3.
A walk, hit by pitch, passed ball, wild pitch and ground-rule double against Delaney in the top of the fourth conspired to add two runs to the Blackbirds' total, making it 8-3.
With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Dyer crushed a one-out pitch from Long Island starter Jenny Giles over the fence in center for a solo home run, her third of the season. Wheeler followed with a full-count walk then Williams lined a pitch right through the third-baseman for her third hit of the ball game, giving her 265 hits for her career to tie the mark. The inning would end there, however, with no more runs across.
After the Blackbirds held the Wildcats scoreless in an inning for the first time in the bottom of the fifth, Long Island brought another run home during the top of the sixth with a two-out single with runners on first and second. The trailing runner was gunned down at the plate by Wheeler to keep the score 9-4.
Dyer connected for her second home run of the game with one out in the bottom of the sixth, then Wheeler slammed a triple down the line in right. Williams followed with her NU career-record breaking hit, a smash back up the middle to plate Wheeler and cut the deficit to three, 9-6. Long Island then elected to replace Giles in the circle with Blaire Porter.
Long Island added two insurance runs in the top of the seventh via a two-out rally, getting a double and a single before a wild-pitch rundown went awry to give the Blackbirds an 11-6 lead.
Dyer took the loss for NU to move to 1-1 on the year, while Delaney pitched 7.0 innings in relief, surrendering five runs (four earned) on seven hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.
In addition to Williams, Dyer went 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Wheeler was 2-for-2.