Feb. 6, 2004

Box Score

TEMPE, Ariz. - With the Arizona sun resting deep in the desert, the Northwestern rally was just heating up. The Wildcats rallied from three runs down in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat No. 20 Arizona State 6-5 in Tempe. After beating Kansas 5-0 with a great performance by pitcher Courtnay Foster, head coach Kate Drohan handed the ball to freshman Eileen Canney in the second game.

"I was very pleased with Eileen's first outing," said Drohan. "I think she mixed her pitches well. It was nice to see our offense overcome some of our defensive miscues."

The young hurler received a rough introduction to collegiate softball. After issuing back-to-back walks to the first two hitters, Valerie Sevilla made her pay with a three-run homer over the left field fence. Canney retired the next three hitters but the damage had been done and the 'Cats faced a 3-0 deficit before taking their first swing of the night.

Arizona State's 3-0 lead was swiftly cut in the bottom of the first when Kristen Amegin drove in Sheila McCorkle and Carri Leto to pull the 'Cats to within 3-2.

Canney got in trouble in the top of the fifth inning when she allowed a walk and a single giving the Sun Devils runners on second and third with only one out. However, a groundout by ASU's Heidi Knabe stalled the threat and Canney ended it all together, striking out Kristin Crenshaw on a 3-2 count to end the inning.

Leto earned a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth. Erin Mobley laid down a sacrifice bunt in the next at-bat and reached first when Arizona State third baseman Phelan Wright's throw flew errantly into right field. Right fielder Keri Pulcifer was there to back up the play and threw out Mobley who was caught in between first and second base. Leto advanced to third base on the play and the Wildcats were in great shape with only one out. However, Eryn Manahan popped out and Amegin struck out to end the Northwestern threat.

Arizona State added to its lead in the top of the seventh. Kristin Farber led off the inning with a single and Sevilla sent her to third with a double in the next at-bat. Phelan Wright singled to bring both runners in and gave the Sun Devils a 5-2 edge.

Northwestern refused to go quietly, however. Garland Cooper and Jamie Dotson breathed a life into the Wildcat rally in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back singles to start the inning. J.C. Kira reached base on an error by Crenshaw and the 'Cats were in business with the bases loaded and no outs.

Freshman Katie Logan chopped a ball to the second but pinch runner Jenny Glonke beat the throw and the 'Cats cut the lead to 5-3 with no outs. McCorkle was hit by the next pitch and pinch hitter Elizabeth Piatt came home to cut the lead to 5-4. Leto singled to bring Logan home and knot up the score at 5-5. Mobley registered the game winning run on the first pitch the at-bat to give the 'Cats the 6-5 come-from-behind win.

"We showed a lot of pride in that last inning. For our first outing, our team showed great poise against a ranked opponent to come back from such a great deficit." Drohan said. "We chipped away at their lead and did not lose focus at any point in the inning."

Canney scattered 10 hits for Northwestern while ASU starter Desiree Serrano gave up four hits in six innings of work.