March 30, 2008

Box Score

EVANSTON, Ill. -- With No. 16 Northwestern and Minnesota tied, 2-2, in the bottom of the seventh of the first game of a Sunday doubleheader at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, sophomore Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) lined a pinch-hit, three-run, walk-off home run to dead center to give the Wildcats a 5-2 win.

The victory improves Northwestern 16-9 overall on the season, 3-0 in the Big Ten. Minnesota falls to 19-9 on the year, 2-1 in the conference with its loss.

Northwestern jumped right on top of Minnesota ace Briana Hassett with a run in the bottom of the first. Freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) drove a two-out pitch deep over the fence in left-center to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. The home run was Batts' fourth of the season.

The game quickly devolved into a pitcher's duel between Hassett and Northwestern's starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias). Neither team put a runner in scoring position until a one-out double by Minnesota in the top of the fourth, but Delaney quickly fanned the next two batters to strand the Gopher.

In the bottom of the fourth, Batts worked a one-out, full-count walk before being replaced at first by pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). Euler stole second, then Hassett issued another walk to sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) before a wild pitch put Wildcats at second and third still with one out.

Hard luck then struck the 'Cats to end the inning. Junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) crushed a pitch, but the line drive found the glove of a surprised third baseman, who was able to tag Euler who had ducked out of the way of the drive to end the frame.

Meanwhile, Delaney continued to hold up her end of the bargain, striking out the side in the Gopher half of the fifth to reach 10 total Ks in the game. Minnesota, however, put together a major threat in the top of the sixth. A one-out error by the Wildcats put a runner at second before a single put Gophers on second and third when the batter advanced to second on the throw home. Junior shortstop Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) then made a fantastic grab of a foul ball down the left-field line to keep both runners stationary with two outs, but a double down the left-field stripe brought two Gophers home to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead.

Northwestern immediately got a rally going in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) was able to beat out a slow rolling grounder to second for a leadoff single, then she moved to second on a perfect sacrifice bunt by freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos). Williams followed with a scorching hot grounder destined for center field, but it smacked Hassett square on the torso, and she was able to recover to throw out Williams at first, with Sengewald moving to third on the play.

Now with two outs in the inning, Batts hit a soaring pop up into shallow left field that was dropped by the shortstop to allow Sengewald to score to tie the game, 2-2.

After Delaney held Minnesota scoreless in the top of the seventh, Dyer singled into right to lead off the bottom half of the frame. Sophomore Ashley Lafever (Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley) replaced Dyer at first as a pinch runner. One out later, freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) singled deep into the hole between first and second, moving the winning run up to second base to set the stage for Haug's heroics.

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