March 23, 2010
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. -- Northwestern put runs on the board in five of its seven offensive turns at the bat Tuesday, holding off SIU-Edwardsville in a wild affair at Cougar Field, 10-5.
Northwestern now is 13-11 overall on the year with its win while SIU-Edwardsville evens its record at 15-15 with the loss.
In the top of the first inning, freshman Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) led off with a single just past the ear of SIU-Edwardsville starting pitcher Erika Taylor. Allard quickly stole second and moved to third when the catcher's throw caromed off her into left field, coming home one out later on a passed ball to give Northwestern the early 1-0 lead.
SIU-Edwardsville answered immediately in the bottom of the first, loading the bases with no outs on back-to-back leadoff singles and a hit-by-pitch issued by Northwestern starter Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette). In a strange moment, the Cougar at first left early with nowhere to go and was called out to leave runners at second and third. The very next pitch was hit to center for a double, giving SIUE a 2-1 advantage before another two-out double made it 3-1 going into the second frame.
In the top of the second, Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) reached on an error by the SIUE third-baseman, moving to second when Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) worked a walk. One out later, Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) singled into left to load the bags for the Wildcats, but no runs were forthcoming.
Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) entered the circle in relief of Lamberth to start the bottom of the second, allowing a pair of runners on a hit and a walk but ending the frame with no runs across.
The Wildcats mounted a rally on the Cougars in their offensive half of the third. Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) led off with a walk, then Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) came to first to run for her. Euler's pace home was quite leisurely when Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) crushed a soaring home run over the fence in right to knot the score, 3-3. Batts' blast was her seventh of the season and the 27th of her career.
One out later in the inning, Pauly drew a walk before motoring to third when Dyer ripped a double into left center. Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) followed with a hard grounder to short that the fielder dove to glove before electing to go to third with the throw, but she missed getting Dyer and allowed Pauly to score to give NU a 4-3 lead when the third ended.
Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) led off the Northwestern fourth with a walk before stealing second base. Monka then drove her in with a single to right field to push the Wildcats' advantage to two, 5-3. Batts hit a high pop fly behind short that fell between the SIUE fielders to push Monka to second on a single, then Batts gave way to Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) at first. Quinn swiped second, but no further scoring happened for the `Cats in the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, SIUE got a runner to first with two outs on a catcher's interference call. The Cougars were able to turn the opportunity into a rally to tie the game, 5-5, with a pair of unearned runs.
Wheeler reached first on an error to lead off the fifth, giving NU a leadoff runner in every single inning of the game to that point. Thompson then sacrificed Wheeler to second before Allard drove her in with a double to center, putting Northwestern back on top, 6-5. Allard stole third, then came home on an RBI groundout by Scharkey to make the Wildcat cushion two, 7-5.
In the top of the sixth, Northwestern found the scoreboard for the fourth-straight inning. Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) hit a one-out solo home run over the fence in right to start things off. The blast was Haug's seventh of the season and the 10th of her career. Pauly followed with a walk before stealing second for her first steal of the year. A walk to Dyer put two 'Cats on the pond, then Wheeler slashed a single through the right side of the infield to score Pauly and move Dyer to third. Olivia Zolke (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) drew a pinch hit walk to load the bases, then an Allard sacrifice fly to left brought home Dyer and made it 10-5 for NU when the inning ended.
From there, Delaney took care of business to end the game, including getting a nice line-drive double play in the seventh from Pauly and Monka on the right side of the infield.
Batts led NU at the plate with a three hit day, driving in a pair. Allard had two hits, runs, RBIs and steals in the game. Pauly scored twice and Wheeler also had two RBIs for the Wildcats.
Delaney (6-7) earned the win, going 6.0 innings of relief and allowing two unearned runs on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts. Lamberth went 1.0 inning in the game, allowing three runs on four hits.
Northwestern returns to the diamond at 4 p.m. CT Thursday, March 25, at Northern Illinois before opening its home season March 27-28 against Purdue at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. First pitch for both Boilermaker games is at 1 p.m. CT.