No. 12 Northwestern Holds Off No. 6 Michigan, 2-1
April 27, 2008
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In what has become one of the best rivalries in collegiate softball, No. 12 Northwestern collected nine base hits and held off two late-inning rallies from No. 6 Michigan to win the first game of a conference-deciding doubleheader Sunday at Wilpon Softball Complex, 2-1. The victory puts the Wildcats one game ahead of the Wolverines in the Big Ten standings with a 16-1 mark, with UM now at 15-2 in the conference. Northwestern is 32-10 overall on the season, while Michigan drops to 43-5 with its loss. Northwestern put the game's first runner in scoring position in the top of the second against Michigan starter Nikki Nemitz. Junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) led off the inning with a sharp single back up the middle, then was lifted for pinch runner Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). Two outs later, Euler stole second before freshman Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) worked a full-count walk, but the frame would end there. The Wildcats again put a pair of runners on base in the top of the third, this time breaking through for a run. With one out, junior Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) beat out an infield single to the pitcher before moving to second one out later when sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) ripped a single through the left side of the Michigan infield. Dyer then shot her second single of the game through the left side of the infield, and Williams sped around to score with a fantastic slide around the catcher for a 1-0 NU lead.
Michigan loaded the bases in response in the bottom of third, getting all three runners with two outs. The first struck out swinging, but the pitch was in the dirt and rolled to the backstop with the throw to first going wide for an error. A full-count walk and a hit by pitch stuffed the sacks, but starter Lauren Delaney (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) got a foul ball and blew a pair of pitches by Wolverine cleanup batter Samantha Findlay to strike her out and end the frame.
The Wolverines again got a runner to third with two outs in the bottom of the fifth after a one-out single and a pair of Delaney wild pitches. Nemitz flopped from the 10 spot in the lineup to bat for the designated player with two gone in the frame, sending a fly ball deep to left where freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) sprinted back toward the track to make a leaping catch of the ball to end the inning. In the top of the sixth, Pauly led off with a scorching grounder back up the middle for her second single of the game, then Erin Dyer executed a perfect push bunt through the charging infield for her third base knock of the contest, moving Pauly to second with no outs. Sophomore Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) then dropped a sacrifice bunt to move both 'Cats up a base. Freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) followed with a bounding single that found a hole in the left side of the infield, plating Pauly and moving Dyer to third to give the Wildcats a 2-0 advantage. Thompson then laid down a bunt that was mishandled by the Wolverine first baseman to load the bases after Dyer played it safe and stayed at third on the hard-hit ball. Nemitz recovered to fan the next two NU batters to end the inning. Michigan got a run back in the bottom of the sixth, getting a leadoff single and a two-out walk before a texas-league single found its way just over the outstretched glove of second baseman Pauly charging into right to make the score 2-1. After a bevy of pinch running substitutions by Michigan, Delaney got the next batter to ground out to third on the first pitch thrown to end the inning. Northwestern continued its onslaught of base knocks in the top of the seventh. Williams led off with a laser beam of a double that one-hopped the fence in left, then moved to third when freshman Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) singled through the left side. Batts' base hit knocked Nemitz (20-3) out of the circle in favor of Wolverine freshman Jordan Taylor. The next Wildcat struck out before Erin Dyer worked an 0-2 count into a walk to load the bases with one gone, but another K and a comebacker ended the inning with no NU runs across. As in all classic matchups between Northwestern and Michigan, it was a World Series atmosphere in a Big Ten contest. The Wolverines refused to go quietly in the bottom of the seventh, putting runners at first and second on infield singles to lead off the inning. Delaney then got the next batter to fly out to left before coaxing a harmless foul out to Batts near the bag at first. A 1-2 wild pitch then moved both runners up a base before a 3-2 offering got Sam Findlay to semi-swing, but the umpire on the base paths ruled she did not go around, loading the bases. Future All-American Delaney then fanned the next batter in three pitches to preserve the 2-1 NU win. Delaney went the distance, allowing one run on six hits and three walks with 12 strikeouts. She now is 16-0 in the Big Ten and 29-6 overall on the season. Dyer was 3-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, while both Williams and Pauly notched two hits for NU. |
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