By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
As senior pitcher Eileen Canney walked into the dugout down 4-0 with the bases loaded and nobody out, there was no way the night could get worse for No. 2 Northwestern.
But it did, as the No. 2 Wildcats tumbled into the loser’s bracket of the Women’s College World Series.
The No. 6 Huskies scored six runs on three hits and five walks in the fifth inning to take a 9-0 win in five innings over the Cats.
“Clearly, we’re disappointed,” coach Kate Drohan said. “I felt Washington had an excellent gameplan coming in and they executed it very well. They took control of the game early.”
Canney was pulled after four batters in the fifth inning – giving up a lead-off double to shortstop Ashley Charters, followed by a walk and two singles – and allowing one more run to cushion Washington’s lead.
But freshman Lauren Delaney, making her first appearance since the opening game of the NCAA Tournament against Wright State, didn’t fare much better. She gave up three walks before Canney returned and escaped the inning after 12 batters came to the plate.
Canney had been nothing short of dominant previously in the NCAA Tournament, winning five of NU’s six postseason games with an ERA below one. She had at least 10 strikeouts in her five starts and had 14 strikeouts per seven innings.
The senior hurler gave up only one hit – a bunt back to the pitcher’s circle – and allowed only one ball into the outfield against No. 7 Arizona State to open the Women’s College World Series on Thursday.
But against Washington (42-17), she walked five batters, all of whom scored, and had six strikeouts to go with seven earned runs.
Her two walks to lead off the third inning led to the first two runs and a walk and a wild pitch in the fourth added one more as the Cats (51-12) entered what turned out to be the final frame down 3-0.
The loss was NU’s first run-rule defeat since February 2006 when the team fell to Arizona 8-0 in six innings. It was the first five inning run-rule loss since losing to Washington in March 2003.
The game was delayed two hours and 45 minutes because of rain in Oklahoma City, but the Huskies showed no wear from the wait.
“I really don’t think (the delay) had that much of an effect on the game,” Canney said. “I think that we came in ready to play and we had a great attitude going into it.”
Pitcher Danielle Lawrie, coming off a no-hitter in the Huskies’ opening game against No. 14 DePaul on Thursday, gave up one hit to the Cats and didn’t give them a chance to make up any ground.
NU freshman Nicole Pauly ended eight innings of hitless softball for Lawrie with a lead-off double in the second inning. It was the only hit the Cats got and the only chance to threaten the Huskies.
Pauly advanced to third on an illegal pitch when Lawry’s foot came off the rubber. But with runners at second and third, the bottom end of NU’s lineup couldn’t produce. Lawrie struck out three straight batters to end the inning without giving up a run.
“(Lawrie) works both sides of the plate really well,” Pauly said. “So, as a hitter you just have to be able to hit both sides of the plate very well. She has a lot of movement. She’s a good pitcher.”
Lawrie went on to strike out two more hitters and finished the night with 11 in the five innings.
She struck out the final batter in each inning.
NU is not eliminated from the Women’s College World Series, but will face elimination for the time this postseason. The Cats will take on the winner of No. 4 Texas A&M (46-13) against No. 8 Baylor (50-15) on Saturday evening.
“This tournament is double-elimination tournament for a reason, and we’ll get ourselves together,” Drohan said. “We’ll talk about the game, we’ll look at some film and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
