April 21, 2010
Box Score
Site: East Lansing, Mich. (Old College Field)
Score: Northwestern 15, Michigan State 0 (5)
Records: NU (19-18, 5-5 Big Ten), Michigan State (18-22, 4-7 Big Ten)
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Northwestern erupted for eight runs in the second inning of the first game of its Wednesday doubleheader at Michigan State, setting the tone in an eventual 15-0 (5) run-rule victory over the Spartans.
Northwestern improves to 19-18 overall, 5-5 in the Big Ten with its win. Michigan State now is 18-22 on the season, 4-7 in the conference with its loss.
The 15 runs scored were the most for Northwestern in any game since a 16-5 (5) defeat of Iowa on April 15, 2009. The 15-run margin of victory in the most for NU in any game since a 16-0 (5) win over Wisconsin on March 31, 2006.
Northwestern did not wait long to start the action Wednesday. On the very first pitch of the game, freshman Emily Allard (Antioch, Calif./Deer Valley) singled back through the middle. With Kristin Scharkey (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza) at the plate, Allard stole second, then moved to third on a wild pitch. Scharkey finished off Allard's trip around the bases with a nice little sacrifice slap to bring Allard home and give NU an early 1-0 lead.
Wildcat starter Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) retired the Spartans in order in the bottom of the first on just 11 pitches before NU got right back to work in the top of the second. Junior Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) worked a leadoff, full-count walk before giving way to pinch runner Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) at first. A passed ball moved Quinn to second, then Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) joined her on base via a full-count walk of her own.
Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) stroked a double to the fence in right to drive in Quinn and move Haug to third, then Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) drew a walk to load the bases still with no outs in the inning. Michigan State starter Kelly Confer then hit Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) with a pitch to force in Haug before full-count walks to Allard and Scharkey pushed Dyer and Wheeler across, respectively. Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) ended the walk train in emphatic style, crushing a double off the glove of a diving center fielder near the fence to empty the bases and make the score 8-0.
The Spartans elected to replace Confer with Rebecca Rogers after the Monka hit, and Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) greeted her with a double to right to plate Monka before the monster inning ended with the Wildcats up 9-0. The eight-run outburst was NU's most in a single inning since scoring 10 in the fourth frame of a 12-4 win over Southern Utah on Feb. 14, 2009.
Smith kept her foot on the gas in the circle, retiring Michigan State in order again in the bottom of the second. She capped the frame with a pair of strikeouts to give her three in the game.
After NU was held scoreless in the top of the third (although Allard did collect a single to give her multiple base hits in 10 of the Wildcats' last 16 games), Smith set down her seventh and eighth Spartans in a row before a flare into left fell for the first MSU hit of the game. Smith recovered well, forcing a comebacker to herself to end the inning.
The Wildcat offense resumed scoring in the top of the fourth. Pauly reached base on a one-out error, then moved to second when Batts singled back through the middle. Haug then laced the first pitch she saw into the gap in right center for a double to bring Pauly home and move Batts to third. Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) entered to run for Haug before both she and Batts raced in to score on a Dyer single to make NU's lead 12-0.
After a Wheeler single moved Dyer to second, Olivia Zolke (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa) entered the game to pinch hit and singled into right to bring Dyer home and make it a 13-0 game when the half-inning ended.
In the bottom of the fourth, Michigan State got a runner to second via an infield single/error combo. Smith negated the threat on the very next pitch with the help of Allard, who caught a soft liner up the middle and doubled off the runner for an inning-ending unassisted double play.
In the top of the fifth, Meghan Lamberth (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) ripped a pinch-hit single, her third-straight hit in a pinch-hitting appearance. Pauly re-entered to run for Lamberth, then Batts crushed a two-run homer to right, bouncing it into the Red Cedar River to push NU's advantage to 15-0. Batts' home run was her ninth of the year and the 29th of her career.
Smith then closed her shutout with a strikeout, a groundout to Allard at short and a foul out to Scharkey in right field. Smith (7-4) matched a career-low with two hits allowed in throwing her second shutout of the year. She needed just 55 pitches (37 for strikes) to complete the game, allowing two hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
Dyer went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored while Monka also drove in three. Allard recorded two hits, two runs and an RBI, Batts was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and Scharkey drove in a pair for the Wildcats at the plate.
Northwestern returns to action immediately in the second game of its doubleheader at Michigan State.
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