May 9, 2008

Box Score

Press Conference Video
Watch Coach Drohan's opening statement
Watch Batts talk about her home run
Watch Drohan talk about Delaney's pitching performance
Watch Drohan talk about facing Iowa in the finals

EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 1 seed and 12th-ranked Northwestern exploded for 12 runs -- including a seven-run fourth inning -- against Minnesota Friday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at Sharon J. Drysdale Field, run-ruling the Gophers in five innings, 12-0 (5).

Northwestern advances to the championship game for the fourth time in the last six seasons with its victory. NU will face No. 3 seed Iowa at noon CT tomorrow, Saturday, May 10, after the Hawkeyes also run-ruled both of their previous two opponents at the Tournament. Iowa bested No. 6 seed Illinois, 9-1, and No. 7 seed Michigan State, 13-4, on Friday, both in five-inning fashion. NU opened the tournament with a five-inning, 8-0 victory over Ohio State Thursday.

Combined with NU's eight-run fourth frame against the No. 8 seed Buckeyes Thursday in the quarterfinals, the Wildcats have put 15 runs on the board in their two fourth inning at-bats in the Tournament.

The win improves the Wildcats to 36-13 overall on the year, while the Golden Gophers now are 29-16 on the season after their loss.

In the bottom of the first inning, both Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) and Michelle Batts (Bloomingdale, Ill./Glenbard North) reached base on one-out hit by pitches delivered by Minnesota starter Briana Hassett, but the Golden Gophers' ace was able to get out of trouble with no damage done.

The Wildcats broke through for a pair of runs against Hassett one frame later. With one out, freshman Kelly Quinn (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) drew a walk before moving to second when classmate Robin Thompson (Detroit, Mich./Martin Luther King) beat out a bunt single. Another walk to senior Darcy Sengewald (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) loaded the bases before freshman Jordan Wheeler (Garden Grove, Calif./Los Alamitos) chopped a comebacker to Hassett. The Gopher fumbled it as she went to throw, allowing Quinn to slide home safely on the error to give NU a 1-0 lead.

One out later, Batts drew a four-pitch walk to force Thompson home and extend that cushion to two, 2-0, before Minnesota ended the scoring.

Northwestern put another crooked number on the board in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Junior Erin Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) drew a leadoff walk before being replaced at first by sophomore Aly Euler (River Forest, Ill./Oak Park River Forest). A walk to Kelly Dyer (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) following an Euler steal put two runners on, with both 'Cats then moving up on a wild pitch.

Quinn followed with a line drive double down the left field line, sending both Euler and Kelly Dyer around to score. Thompson then laid down a beautiful bunt that she beat to the bag for a single, with the throw to first from the catcher hitting Thompson and ricocheting away to allow Quinn to come around and score while Thompson moved to second on the throwing miscue.

Before the bottom of the fourth, Minnesota replaced Hassett (21-8) in the circle with Katie Dalen, and Northwestern wasted no time in giving her a Sharon J. Drysdale Field greeting. On the first pitch Dalen threw, Batts crushed an opposite-field home run off the side of Welsh-Ryan Arena to make the score 6-0. The blast was Batts' 12th of the season, good for second place on the squad.

Sophomore Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) then served a single into right before moving to second on Erin Dyer's second base on balls of the game. A Dalen wild pitch moved both runners up a bag, then one out later a walk to Quinn loaded the bases.

Thompson followed with a ball into right that should have been an RBI single, but Pauly at third held for the possible tag should the hit be caught, but it fell and Pauly was thrown out at the plate for the second out of the inning.

Sengewald then sent a seeing-eye single through the right side of the infield to send Erin Dyer home before pinch hitter Emily Haug (Jefferson City, Mo./Helias) got a walk to force in Quinn and push the game into run-rule territory, 8-0. Minnesota then re-entered Hassett into the circle in favor of Dalen.

The Wildcats still were not nearly finished. Williams was hit in the head with a pitch to send Thompson home, then Batts cleared the bases with a single into center to give Northwestern a 12-0 lead before the frame finally came to a conclusion.

Delaney earned the win to improve to 33-8 on the season, tying the Northwestern single-season wins record shared by All-Americans Lisa Ishikawa (1984) and Eileen Canney (2007). Delaney's shutout was her 15th of the season; she allowed two hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.

Batts was a perfect 2-for-2 with five RBIs, four of them coming in two plate appearances in the fourth inning. Thompson also had a pair of hits and scored twice, while Quinn drove in two and scored three times.