Northwestern surrendered a run to Illinois for the first time in three games this season, but that didn’t stop the Wildcats from taking the first step toward a Big Ten tournament championship.
The top-seeded Cats dispatched the eighth-seeded Illni 4-1 on Friday afternoon at Sharon J. Drysdale Field in a first round contest that had been pushed back a day due to rain.
With the win, NU moves on to the semifinal round at 11:30 a.m. Saturday against fourth-seeded Ohio State, which defeated No. 5-seed Penn State 9-6 on Thursday. The tournament championship game will follow the semifinals at approximately 2:00 p.m.
Coach Kate Drohan said the key to playing as the heavy favorite was to stay focused. “Seeds don’t mean anything,” she said. “(My team) came out and was ready to go.”
That was clear in the first inning, when pitcher Eileen Canney set the Illini down in order before center fielder Sheila McCorkle put the Cats out in front with an RBI single.
At the beginning of the game, the bottom of the NU batting order did the damage. After McCorkle’s clutch hit in the first, second baseman Ashley Crane led off the second with a home run to left-center field, her fourth of the season.
“They did a great job today, ” Drohan said. “I also think Jamie Dotson hit the ball great today. It was nice to see behind (first baseman Garland) Cooper.”
Canney, who was just named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year, got the job done, although she didn’t dominate the way she has in recent games. In seven innings, she gave up one run on five hits and two walks, while also committing two errors.
Even though Canney allowed more than her typical quota of base runners, she managed to keep runs off the board by shutting down the Illini hitters in potential RBI situations.
“(Eileen) didn’t have her best stuff today, but she got big strikeouts in big situations,” Drohan said. “It’s nice to see her fight like that when she doesn’t have her best stuff.”
Canney whiffed 10 batters, pushing her beyond the 300-strikeout mark for the season. She is only the second hurler in NU history to reach that milestone after Lisa Ishikawa, who struck out 469 in 1984.
Cooper, who was just named the Big Ten Player of the Year, gave the Cats some cushion in the fourth inning when she ripped a double to the fence in right-center field, plating two.
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