April 1, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 8 Northwestern hit three home runs for the fourth-straight game, scoring in four-straight innings to run-rule Michigan State, 9-1 (5), in the first game of a Wednesday doubleheader at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
The win improves Northwestern to 19-7 overall on the season, 5-0 in the Big Ten. Michigan State falls to 13-17 on the year, 0-4 in the conference with its loss.
Northwestern hurler Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) fanned the final batter in the top of the first inning before whiffing the side in the second to get the Wildcats off to a strong start. Junior Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) followed Delaney's cue, leading off the bottom of the second with a line-drive double into right then moving to third one out later on a Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) groundout. A walk to Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) put runners at the corners before Lafever swiped second. Sophomore Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) then shot a single back up the middle to score Pauly and give NU a 1-0 lead.
Delaney picked up right where she left off in the third, earning her fifth- and sixth-straight strikeouts to kick off the inning. A little pop up to Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) at short to end the frame made it eight-straight Spartans retired since a one-out walk in the first.
Northwestern added to its total in the bottom of the third. Williams led off with a hard single into center, scoring all the way from first one out later when Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) continued her torrid hitting with a double to the fence in center. Batts hit .667 in the Wildcats' three games last week.
Pauly followed Batts with a home run to center on a ball that was crushed on a rope into the day's strong winds to make the score 4-0. The inning continued with an Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) single, an MSU error and a Lafever sacrifice bunt, but Michigan State starter Lauren Kramer (4-6) ended the frame without further damage.
Delaney set the Spartans down in order again in the fourth, fanning the final two batters to reach eight Ks for the game.
The Wildcats continued to pour on the pressure in the bottom of the inning. Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) led off with a bunt single before motoring all the way around to score on a double by Williams, who advanced to third on the throw home. Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) then lifted a high fly ball into center that was caught, allowing Williams to come home on the sacrifice fly.
One out later, Pauly stepped to the plate and hit a high, soaring fly ball that fought the wind just hard enough to sneak over the fence in center for her second home run of the game, making the score 7-0. The blast was Pauly's eighth of the season and the 37th of the junior's career.
After cruising through the first four innings, Delaney surrendered Michigan State's first hit and first run of the game on a solo homer to lead off the fifth, but ended the inning without further damage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Wheeler hit a one-out single, then Williams creamed a two-out home run to end the game in run-rule fashion, 9-1. The Williams home run was her ninth of the year, the 51st of her career and marked the fifth-straight game she has homered in.
Delaney (18-6) earned the win, allowing one run on two hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts in 5.0 innings of work.
Pauly set a career-high with 10 total bases in the game, going 3-for-3 with a double, two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored. She is one of three Wildcats to have recorded a double and two homers in a single game during their careers, joining Williams and Batts.
Williams was a triple shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and three runs scored. Erin Dyer and Wheeler both had 2-for-3 performances at the plate.