No. 7 Northwestern Scores Late for 5-3 Win Over Ohio State – Ohio State Buckeyes
4/14/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 14, 2007
Box Score | Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 7 Northwestern hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the seventh inning to break a 2-2 tie and then hung on for a 5-3 win over the Ohio State softball team Saturday at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in Evanston. After beating the defending Big Ten champs and national runner-up 5-3 in nine innings Friday, the Buckeyes suffer their first Big Ten loss of the season and are now 5-1 in the league and 22-14 overall, while the Wildcats are 32-8 overall and 7-2 in the Big Ten.
Northwestern’s Tammy Williams hit a two-run homer in the top of the seventh and Garland Cooper followed with a solo homer to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead, but in their last at bat the Buckeyes loaded the bases and scored once in a comeback effort. Defending Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Eileen Canney was able to stop the damage there, however, and Ohio State ended the game with 10 runners left on base overall.
“I thought our kids played with a lot of heart and toughness all weekend,” Linda Kalafatis, Ohio State head coach, said. “We were a foot or two away from still playing. We didn’t play our best game today, but the girls showed a lot of confidence and trust in each other and we battled all the way to the end. We have faced a lot of good pitchers all year and that has helped us prepare to compete against the good pitchers in the Big Ten.”
OSU freshman Sam Marder (Calabasas, Calif./Calabasas) hit a solo home run with two outs in the third inning to bring Ohio State’s deficit to one run at 2-1 and senior Megan Schwab (Glendale, Ariz./Sunrise Mountain) tied the game at 2-2 with a solo shot in the fifth. The blasts were Marder’s team-leading eighth of the season and Schwab’s fourth.
In the seventh, senior Christina Douglas (Mesa, Ariz./Dobson) hit a two-out RBI single but Ohio State’s comeback was stopped there by Canney. Senior Nycole Koyano (Walnut, Calif./Walnut) walked to lead off the inning, junior Brittany Vanderink (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) singled to the pitcher and Schwab walked to load the bases.
NU freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney struck out six and pitched into the fifth inning before Canney, who suffered the loss yesterday, came on in relief and earned the win to improve to 17-8 this season. Delaney received a no decision but remained the only undefeated pitcher in nation with at least 15 decisions.
Senior Jamee Juarez (La Puente, Calif./Wilson) suffered the loss to see her personal six game winning streak in the circle snapped and fall to 9-8 overall. Sophomore Courtney Pruner (Akron, Ohio/Ellet) and freshman Megan Miller (Woodland Hills, Calif./El Camino Real) both had relief appearances in the circle for Ohio State, marking only the fourth time this season the Buckeyes used three pitchers in a game.
Northwestern’s Cooper, the two-time defending Big Ten Player of the Year, and Jessica Rigas hit solo home runs to left field in the first and second inning, respectively, to put the Wildcats up 2-0.
Ohio State has Sunday off and will return to action Wednesday when IUPUI visits Buckeye Field for a 5 p.m. doubleheader. Next weekend, the Buckeyes hit the road again for Big Ten games at Illinois Friday and Saturday and a doubleheader at Iowa Sunday.
### Go Bucks! ###
