March 21, 2008

Box Score

HONOLULU -- Early trouble in the circle put No. 12 Northwestern down 7-0 after two innings Friday afternoon against Colorado State at the Bank of Hawaii Invitational, and the Wildcats' 10-hit attack was not enough to pull off a comeback in a 9-3 loss.

The loss drops Northwestern to 13-7 on the season, while Colorado State improves to 16-11 on the year with its win.

In the top of the first inning, Colorado State took advantage of Northwestern control problems in the circle to take a 6-0 lead in the first half frame. Freshman Jessica Smith (Encinitas, Calif./La Costa Canyon) walked the first four batters she faced before allowing a two-run double to make the score 3-0. She then was replaced by sophomore Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias). Another walk, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a bloop infield single gave the Rams the 6-0 advantage before the Wildcats came to the plate.

Smith was charged with five earned runs on four walks and one hit. Delaney surrendered a solo home run in the second inning to make NU's deficit 7-0.

Northwestern got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) led off the frame with a bounding single through the right side, then moved to second when a grounder by Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) was booted for an error. Sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) then singled up the middle to load the bases with no outs.

Junior Jessica Rigas (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest) hit a low liner to center that was caught without giving the runners a chance to advance, then a fielder's choice grounder to third by sophomore Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) plated Wheeler to give NU its first run of the game.

After a scoreless top of the fifth, Colorado State elected to replace starting pitcher Rebecca Penland (4-2) in the circle with the Rams' starting designated player, Kim Klabough, who retired the first batter she faced before Northwestern got three-straight singles from Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East), Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) and Wheeler to load the bases. Klabough was able to get the next two NU batters to pop up, however, to end the inning unscathed.

Northwestern tacked another run on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Rigas led off with a single through the right side, then was replaced at first by pinch runner Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King). Thompson immediately stole second, then came all the way around on a single to center by Dyer to make the score 7-2. The base hit extended Dyer's current team-best hitting streak to seven games.

Colorado State tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh courtesy of a single, a double and a sacrifice fly, taking a 9-2 lead in the game.

Smith (2-3) took the loss for NU, while Delaney went 7.0 innings in the circle, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts.

Williams led off the bottom of the seventh with a single up the middle, then moved around to third on a soaring double off the fence by Wheeler. One out later, Pauly hit a ball to the fence in left that was caught, and Williams ran home to make the score 9-3. Wheeler attempted to advance to third on the play, but was thrown out to end the game.

Wheeler finished 3-for-4 with a run scored, while both Williams and Sengewald had two hits each. Dyer drove in a pair for the 'Cats.

Northwestern returns to action at 7 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, March 22, against California in the first of two games on the day. The Wildcats then will face No. 17 Hawaii at 9 p.m. CT. This schedule reflects a change from the original three-game Saturday slate.