Northwestern continued its Big Ten dominance by sweeping both Indiana and Purdue in convincing fashion this weekend.
The No. 16 Wildcats have now swept all six of their conference series and stand alone at the top of the Big Ten at 12-0.
The Cats’ 12-0 start to the Big Ten season is the best start since Iowa went a perfect 22-0 in 1997.
“I’m excited about it,” said coach Kate Drohan. “I’m really pleased with the consistency we’ve had the last 12 games. Every day we approach a Big Ten game as though it’s a championship because we know it’s going to be a one- or two-game race here at the end, and every game is going to count, no matter who your opponent is.”
NU used the same recipe this weekend that’s worked for them all year. The offense fed off the pitcher’s success and the pitchers fed off the offense’s success.
“It goes both ways,” junior Jamie Dotson said. “I’m sure the pitchers feel a lot more comfortable when we give them run support, and it’s also a lot less pressure on the hitters when our pitchers are doing such a great job.”
If that’s the case, NU was playing with almost zero pressure all weekend.
The Cats started the weekend off by crushing Indiana 10-0 in six innings on Friday. Sophomore pitcher Eileen Canney pitched five shutout innings and allowed only two hits to lead the team in the victory.
Senior Erin Mobley set a school record for career total bases in the game and led the Cats with four RBIs.
Despite the easy victory Friday, Indiana didn’t go down nearly as easily Saturday. The Hoosiers kept the game close but sophomore Courtnay Foster’s pitching was too much for the Hoosiers to handle. The right-handed ace struck out 17, and when sophomore Garland Cooper hit a two-run home run to put the Cats up 4-1 in the fifth, the game was out of reach. Indiana pulled to within 4-2 in the seventh, but Foster closed the door by striking out the side to end the game.
“When you beat a team pretty bad the first game they come out a little harder the second game, wanting to win that game,” Cooper said. “We played our game still and we came out on top.”
After completing the sweep of Indiana, the Cats headed to Purdue to take on a strong Boilermaker team. Before the series, Purdue was 5-1 and sitting just two spots behind NU in the conference rankings. But as strong as Purdue had been playing, the Cats were stronger.
NU made quick work of Purdue in the first game on Sunday, winning 9-0 in five innings. The Cats were led by junior Jamie Dotson, who broke the school record for most RBIs in a season when she drove in her 44th run in the first inning.
“Honestly, I don’t even look at statistics, so I didn’t even know that happened,” Dotson said about breaking the record. “But I mean, that’s what Kate (Drohan) told me coming into the season, that is was my job to get RBIs, so I guess I’ve been doing my job so far.”
The Cats also got another clutch performance from Canney, who pitched a one-hitter in the shutout.
It was more of the same in the second game for NU. Foster followed up Canney’s performance by striking out nine and giving up just five hits. Cooper had a home run and three RBIs in a 7-0 shutout to complete the sweep.
“We’re pretty confident right now, and I think that if we keep playing the way we’re playing, I don’t think there’s anyone that we can’t beat,” Cooper said.
Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].
