By Philip Rossman-Reich
The Daily Northwestern
For the last four innings against Loyola on Tuesday, pitcher Lauren Delaney showed what makes her one of the top freshmen in the nation.
She struck out eight batters and did not allow a hit during that stretch. Loyola could not even hit the ball into the outfield.
But Delaney also showed she is still learning the college game.
Delaney hit a batter on her third pitch, setting up a two-run first inning. She then gave up a home run in the next inning, which propelled the Ramblers to an upset victory over No. 8 Northwestern (33-10).
“I think Lauren’s biggest challenge is to be consistent,” coach Kate Drohan said. “It’s part of developing as an athlete. It’s a combination of the mental and the physical. It’s part of growing up.”
Delaney has shown flashes of dominance. She struck out 16 batters against Saint Louis on March 20 and has a 1.58 ERA with 159 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting .171 against her.
But with half of the Big Ten season in the books, Delaney is still learning how to pitch against the best teams in the country and be a consistent second pitcher. The Wildcats are fighting for a place at the top of the conference heading into their final conference road trip. They will play Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday and face Minnesota in a doubleheader Sunday.
Delaney’s numbers have not been as impressive in Big Ten play, as she has gone 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in five starts. Batters are hitting .258 against her.
“You can’t take any hitter lightly or any team lightly,” Delaney said. “Any team can beat us on any given day. (I’ve learned) that I have to focus on every pitch.”
Delaney won her first 15 decisions but needed help from senior pitcher Eileen Canney to preserve her perfect record. Canney relieved Delaney in seven games this season.
The freshman pitcher left three of those games with the Cats trailing.
Canney relieved Delaney after the freshman gave up five runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings against Penn State on Sunday. It was the first loss of her college career. She took another loss Tuesday against Loyola.
Delaney has hit 13 batters and has given up 13 home runs this season.
But Delaney has show she can blow away batters with her blazing fastball too. She quickly established herself as a solid complement to Canney after striking out 10 against No. 25 Fresno State in her first career start.
“It looked like she just simplified everything and worked one pitch at a time and threw that pitch as well as she could,” Canney said after Tuesday’s game.
During NU’s non-conference schedule, Delaney started five games against teams that are currently ranked. She pitched three complete games and has a 1.40 ERA against those teams.
“I think that we have a lot of games left,” Canney said. “I think that we just need to expect each team to play their best against us and never take a pitch off (and) never not play as hard as we can.”
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