By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern was on the verge of dropping two games to its biggest conference rival.
No. 8 NU couldn’t afford to give No. 10 Michigan a two-game advantage in the Big Ten standings after Michigan took a one-run advantage in the fifth inning Saturday, a day after dropping the series opener, 11-4.
Senior right fielder Jessica Miller then launched a pitch onto the roof of Welsh-Ryan Arena – the longest home run ever hit at Sharon J. Drysdale Field – as NU went ahead 4-3 and split the weekend series against the Wolverines.
“It came in a little bit lower and that’s where I like my pitches,” Miller said. “It’s been a while since I’ve even had a hit so I was just going for it.”
Michigan (26-6, 1-1 Big Ten) had a chance to sweep the conference series. The Wolverines led the entire game, chasing freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney from the game with back-to-back home runs in the first inning. The Cats (27-7, 3-1) fought back to tie the game and Miller’s home run put them in the lead. It nearly wasn’t enough.
Michigan loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh with two outs. But senior pitcher Eileen Canney got out of the jam and secured the crucial series split.
“It’s great to get this win against Michigan coming into the Big Ten season,” sophomore shortstop Tammy Williams said. “You need all the wins you can get to get to that Big Ten conference tournament and title.”
It was a much different story for NU on Friday.
Charged by a four-run fourth inning and a five-run sixth, Michigan won behind seven RBIs from freshman catcher Roya St. Clair. Canney allowed eight earned runs and four walks in five innings. She recovered Saturday, allowing four hits and one run in 6 1/3 innings of relief.
“(Friday) was definitely a tough game,” Canney said. “It was hard just because there were a lot of distractions and I feel like that was the difference between (Friday and Saturday). We were able to focus on the task at hand and do one thing at a time.”
NU and Michigan have each won the past two Big Ten regular season championships and figure to be the front-runners this season.
NU carried its strong play from the Michigan series into their doubleheader with Michigan State on Sunday.
Senior first baseman Garland Cooper and sophomore Jessica Rigas each hit home runs in the third inning as the Cats defeated the Spartans, 11-3, in five rain-soaked innings.
After a two-hour rain delay, NU swept the series against Michigan State (18-16, 0-2) with an 8-3 win in six innings, behind home runs from senior center fielder Katie Logan, Williams, and back-to-back shots from freshman second baseman Nicole Pauly and sophomore catcher Erin Dyer.
“We’ve played a lot of games playing in tough weather and I think we did pretty well adjusting to it,” Cooper said. “I think we handled it really well and I don’t think it affected us much.”
Pauly continued a 12-game hitting streak. She hit 8 for 14 with 10 RBIs over the weekend, including two home runs in Sunday’s second game against Michigan State.
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
