By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern’s matchup with Notre Dame on Tuesday was billed as a pitcher’s duel.
Senior Eileen Canney came in with a 20-8 record and 1.91 ERA for the No. 8 Wildcats, and sophomore Brittney Bargar was 16-9 with a 1.98 ERA for the Fighting Irish.
Only thing is, NU’s offense decided to crash the party.
The Cats struck early and often against the Fighting Irish. After freshman Nicole Pauly hit a two-run double and came home on a double steal, NU had a 3-0 lead after one inning. Then, senior Garland Cooper stole the show.
In the second inning, Cooper hit her 51st career home run, tying the Big Ten record and bringing in three more runs as the Cats blew out the Irish 12-0 in five innings at South Bend, Ind.
“I think we’ve approached these teams (the last few weeks) a little bit differently and had a lot more confidence,” Cooper said. “I think that everyone is kind of getting more comfortable up there and swinging away.”
The Fighting Irish nearly responded in the bottom of the first, putting a runner on third with one out. But NU senior pitcher Eileen Canney shut down Notre Dame (24-19) to get out of the inning, stranding the runner.
Canney struck out the side in the bottom of the second, keeping the Irish buried in a deep hole against one of the best offensive teams in the nation. She finished with seven strikeouts in four innings, putting her at 999 career strikeouts.
NU (37-10) scored in every inning but the fourth. Senior right fielder Jessica Miller brought in a run on a double in the third. Then the Cats scored five in the fifth to finish the blowout.
Cooper drew a bases-loaded walk to score a run, Pauly added two more RBIs with a single and sophomore Erin Hampshire added a two-run double.
“It was huge for us to get our confidence back and score so many runs,” Pauly said.
The win comes before a crucial Big Ten weekend for the Cats. NU faces Iowa and Illinois this weekend and needs as many wins as possible to position themselves for a run at the top of the Big Ten. After losing three of five games, the Cats have strung together four straight wins and are using small ball to put together big innings that keep opponents far out of reach.
“We’re not always relying on someone to get the big home run to save us,” Cooper said. “I think it’s good momentum for us and I think we’re also swinging the bat real well.”
The 12-0 win was NU’s largest margin of victory this season. Their victory Tuesday was their first eight-run mercy rule win since they beat Michigan State 11-3 in five innings April 1.
“I think our team is starting to understand its own strengths and is starting to create runs in a lot of different ways,” coach Kate Drohan said. “I’m starting to notice now that our players are starting to feed on each other.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
