Feb. 14, 2010
Box Score
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In a matchup between two pitchers on the 2010 USA Softball Player of the Year Award watch list, Creighton got a pair of unearned runs Sunday at the Kajikawa Classic to negate Lauren Delaney's (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) one-hit, 13 strikeout performance and defeat No. 15 Northwestern, 2-1.
The loss drops Northwestern to 2-3 overall on the year while Creighton now is 3-3 with its victory.
Delaney and Creighton hurler Tara Oltman dueled it out right from the start. Delaney set the tone by striking out the side in the top of the first on 12 pitches, throwing 10 for strikes.
After two perfect frames for both pitchers (and three for Delaney), Northwestern got the game's first base runner when Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) reached via an error on the Bluejay shortstop. A great sacrifice from senior Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) in her first career start moved Wheeler up, but second base is where she stayed.
Creighton led off the top of the fourth with the game's first hit, then a series of events led to runners at second and third with one out. A squeeze went awry for Northwestern when both runners came home following the bunt and a subsequent throwing error to the plate, giving the Bluejays a 2-0 lead.
Delaney recovered from the Creighton runs to fan the next five Bluejays to the plate, giving her 10 total K's after five innings of work.
In the bottom of the fifth, Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) ripped a one-out single into right field for the Wildcats' first base knock of the game. She immediately moved to second when Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) drew a five-pitch walk. Freshman Lauren Ackerman (St. Louis, Mo./Home schooled) then took second base to run for Haug, but Oltman was able to escape the danger.
Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) drew a two-out walk in the sixth, then moved to second on an illegal pitch call. She was replaced by pinch runner Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North). Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) then slugged a single into center to bring in Quinn and cut NU's deficit in half, 2-1, going into the seventh.
In the bottom of the frame, Haug led off with a rocket destined for the gap in right center, but the apparently Flubber-soled second baseman leapt high into the air to snare it before Haug could get extra bases. Dyer then followed with a one-out single back up the middle, but a double play killed the rally and ended the game.
Delaney (1-2) allowed only two baserunners in the game on a hit and a walk, but both came in to score as unearned runs. She finished with 13 strikeouts, giving her 995 in her career.
Northwestern returns to action Feb. 19-21 at the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.