By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Going into its games against Wisconsin and Minnesota, Northwestern had gone a while since putting together a big inning to bury an opponent.
The No. 8 Wildcats ended 10 games by the eight-run mercy rule this season thanks to offensive explosions, but they had only ended one game early against conference teams.
Against Wisconsin and Minnesota, NU recaptured that offensive prowess.
After falling behind 1-0 against the Gophers on Sunday, the Cats scored seven runs in the fourth inning on three walks and five singles en route to a 7-1 win in a rain-shortened five innings.
“It’s never a question of whether or not (the offense is) going to do it,” senior pitcher Eileen Canney said. “They always do it. But it definitely makes it easier to pitch when it’s not a 1-0 (or) 2-0 game.”
Against Wisconsin on Saturday, NU’s offense also used a strong fourth inning to pull away. The Cats scored five runs with two outs to take a 6-0 lead and held on for a 6-2 victory.
NU (36-10, 11-3 Big Ten) slowly built its advantage against Wisconsin with singles from freshman Kelly Dyer and junior Darcy Sengewald. Then, senior center fielder Katie Logan hit her second long ball of the year to clear the bases.
But the Cats weren’t done. NU loaded the bases and sophomore catcher Erin Dyer drew a walk to complete the scoring in the inning.
The run-scoring process was similar in the fourth against Minnesota (19-17, 2-5).
The Cats picked up runs one at a time on singles by Sengewald, Logan and senior right fielder Jessica Miller. Freshman Nicole Pauly grabbed two RBIs on a two-out single as NU pulled away.
A week after leaving many runners on base in a four-game split, the Cats put runners on base and were able to bring them home and keep innings going last weekend.
In their seven-run inning Sunday, the Cats remained patient getting hits and drawing walks. They used sacrifice hits to advance runners and took advantage of their opponent’s mistakes.
“We can’t always rely on our home runs, even though that’s what our offense is all about,” Erin Dyer said. “We do have to string together singles sometimes. I think we’re learning that that also can create big innings.”
The Cats needed strong pitching Friday to earn the first part of their sweep of the Badgers (24-15, 5-7).
Senior pitcher Eileen Canney had 12 strikeouts and gave up one unearned run for a 2-1 victory Friday.
Canney picked up two wins, striking out seven in five innings Sunday. Her 19 strikeouts this weekend put her eight away from becoming the third player in NU history with 1,000 career strikeouts.
The Cats have four games left in the Big Ten. In order for them to win the regular season championship – and host the Big Ten tournament – NU needs to lose one fewer game over its last four than current leaders Michigan and Ohio State lose over their last six conference games.
“Every game is really important right now coming down the stretch,” coach Kate Drohan said. “With only four games left on the schedule, we have to seal the deal here.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
