March 5, 2010
FULLERTON, Calif. -- Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) notched a solo home run, but it proved to Northwestern's lone hit in a 3-1 loss to North Carolina Friday morning at the DeMarini Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton.
Northwestern falls to 7-9 with its loss. North Carolina extends its current winning streak to 10 games, moving to 11-3 overall with its victory.
Both teams' pitchers, Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) for Northwestern and All-American Danielle Spaulding for North Carolina, struck out their respective sides in the first inning. The offenses still combined for five baserunners and a pair of scores in the frame courtesy of a Tarheel two-run home run to give UNC an early 2-0 lead.
Monka cut that deficit in half with one swing to lead off the top of the fourth, sending a home run over the fence in dead center to make it 2-1. Monka's shot was her seventh of the year and the 26th of her career.
North Carolina got that run back in the bottom of the fifth. The leadoff runner reached on a full-count illegal pitch call before moving to second and scoring from there on a double. Northwestern would get the second out of the inning when the doubler tried to score on a single to center, but Kelly Dyer's (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) throw was so strong, it started a rundown between third and home to keep the NU deficit at two, 3-1.
Delaney (4-5) went 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on three hits and six walks with five strikeouts.
Northwestern returns to action immediately against Oregon State.