By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
The stage was set for a dramatic come-from-behind victory for No. 7 Northwestern against Penn State.
With two outs in the seventh inning, junior third baseman Darcy Sengewald hit a home run to pull the Wildcats one run behind the Nittany Lions. Senior center fielder Katie Logan followed with a slap single to give sophomore shortstop Tammy Williams a chance for NU to take the lead.
The previous day, Williams stepped up by hitting a go-ahead two-run home run in the seventh inning of the Cats’ 5-3 victory over Ohio State – letting out a scream and pumping her fists as she walked back into the dugout.
But Sunday was not her day for heroics.
The sophomore slugger gave the ball a ride deep into left field, but it landed just short of the warning track and in the glove of the left fielder.
Penn State earned a doubleheader split and handed freshman pitcher Lauren Delaney her first loss Sunday by defeating NU 6-5 at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
“I think we got a little too comfortable with our first win,” Sengewald said. “We weren’t as hungry for the second game. We need to come out the second game the way we came out in the first game.”
Williams went 2 for 16 on the weekend. She struck out all three times she went to the plate in the first game Sunday. Her school record 24-game hitting streak was snapped Friday on a 0-for-4 day.
The Cats (33-9, 8-3 Big Ten) struggled throughout the weekend to consistently get runners on base and score them. NU scored two of their seven runs against Penn State on home runs and all eight of their runs against Ohio State on long balls.
The Cats left the bases loaded twice in the second game against the Nittany Lions (19-13, 3-1) as they tried to scramble back from a 6-1 deficit.
“I think (Penn State’s) pitchers did a nice job (Sunday), working both sides of the plate,” coach Kate Drohan said. “I think we had too many strikeouts today. It put us in a hole.”
NU – second in the Big Ten in batting average entering the weekend – struggled to find their offense in their weekend opener versus Ohio State.
The Cats couldn’t get runners in scoring position and threatened the Buckeyes for most of Friday’s game. Then sophomore catcher Erin Dyer hit a home run to force extra innings in the sixth.
But the offensive struggles continued for the Cats. They didn’t get a hit in the two extra innings and first baseman Courtney Pruner hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to lead the Buckeyes (22-14, 5-1) to a 5-3 win in nine innings.
“I don’t think it’s them, I think it’s more us,” said Dyer. “I definitely think we didn’t play our game very well. … We were thrown off our game a little bit. We had a bad day (Friday).”
Senior pitcher Eileen Canney pitched a one-hitter in the first game against Penn State to give NU a 2-0 win. She carried a no-hitter into the seventh but gave up a one-out single before striking out the next two batters.
Sengewald went 3 for 4 in the second game Sunday, including her second home run of the year. Senior first baseman Garland Cooper hit two home runs in NU’s win Saturday.
“I know we want to win every game that we play,” Sengewald said. “We’re a little disappointed about splitting. But I think that in the long-run, this loss is going to help us out because we’re going to realize what we need to get done for the rest of the Big Ten season.”
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