Opening Day Drubbing: No. 16 Northwestern Run-Rules Wisconsin, 10-0, in Five Innings
March 28, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 16 Northwestern opened its brand new facility at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in style Friday afternoon, banging out 10 runs on seven hits and getting the third no-hitter of the season from sophomore Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) to run-rule Wisconsin, 10-0, in five innings. The win gives the Wildcats a 1-0 start to the 2008 Big Ten season and improves them to 14-9 overall on the year. The Badgers now are 10-22 on the season, 0-1 in the conference. Northwestern took a commanding lead early with a four-run second inning. Junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) was hit by a pitch to begin the frame, then was replaced at first by freshman pinch runner Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King), who stole second on the very next pitch. A stellar sacrifice bunt by Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) resulted in an error when the first baseman missed the tag as Dyer sped by, allowing the sophomore to reach base and Thompson to find third base. Dyer then immediately stole second to put runners at second and third with one out. A walk from Wisconsin starter Letty Olivarez to freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) loaded the bases before a line shot to short by senior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lockport) was knocked down and Dyer tagged as she went by, but Thompson sprinted home to score the game's first run.
Junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) then drove an Olivarez pitch over the fence just inside the pole in right for a three-run home run to give NU a 4-0 lead. The blast was Williams' team-leading fifth of the season and the 35th of her career, giving her sole possession of second place all-time at NU and eighth place all-time in Big Ten history.
Northwestern scored a lot more in the bottom of the fourth. Quinn led off the inning with a ball that fell just inside the left-field line, with the freshman alertly sprinting to second ahead of the throw for a double. One out later, a walk to Williams put runners at first and second, then freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) ripped a double over the drawn-in outfield to score Quinn and move Williams to third. A walk to Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) loaded the bases and knocked Olivarez (4-11) from the circle in favor of Kristyn Hansen. Sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) greeted Hansen with a line-drive double into right center that scored both Williams and Wheeler to give NU a 7-0 lead. Erin Dyer then pushed the game into run-rule territory with a mammoth, soaring and loud three-run home run deep over the center field fence to make the score 10-0. Dyer's blast was her third of the season and the 19th of her career, giving her sole possession of fifth place on NU's career list. While her teammates were crushing, Delaney was cruising. The sophomore allowed just one base runner in the game on a two-out error in the fourth inning and struck out the side in the fifth to finish with eight K's. No Badger was able to get the ball even out of the infield against Delaney, who is the first Wildcat to throw three no-hitters in a single season since former All-Everything Wildcat Lisa Ishikawa fired five in 1987. Delaney has four no-no's in her career. The game marked the second time in the last four years Northwestern began the Big Ten season with a no-hitter. Two-time All-American Eileen Canney threw a five-inning perfect game on April 1, 2005, against Illinois to kick off the conference campaign. Wheeler finished 2-for-3 for NU, while Williams and Erin Dyer each drove in three runs. Pauly knocked in two, and Williams and Quinn both scored twice in the game. In another interesting note, Erin Dyer drove in a school-record eight runs against Wisconsin in her first-career game at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in 2006. At the brand new Drysdale Field in 2008, Dyer knocked in three against the Badgers. Northwestern and Wisconsin return to action at noon CT tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, for the second game of the series at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. |
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