By Philip Rossman-Reich The Daily Northwestern
Offense took a back seat as Northwestern senior pitcher Eileen Canney and Arizona State junior pitcher Katie Burkhart sent the top hitting team in the Pac-10 and one of the best batting clubs in the Big Ten down quickly.
But freshman left fielder Kelly Dyer, who entered the game with a .159 batting average, continued her strong hitting against the Sun Devils’ junior pitcher. She went 2 for 2 and scored on senior center fielder Katie Logan’s double down the right field line in the third inning to give the No. 2 Wildcats the first run.
“I think I just get comfortable in the box,” said Dyer, who hit two home runs, including a game-winning grand slam, earlier this season against Burkhart. “Today, Eileen (Canney) was pitching great and I just wanted to put the ball in play.”
Sophomore shortstop Tammy Williams added a solo home run off the right field foul pole in the sixth inning, and Canney allowed only one hit as NU advanced in the winner’s bracket of the the Women’s College World Series with a 2-0 win. The Cats will face face No. 6 Washington on Friday.
The pitchers were expected to take control of the game and they did so early.
Canney struck out the leadoff hitter looking and sent five of the first nine batters into the dugout on strikes. Burkhart matched her, striking Logan out to lead off the first inning and getting four of the first nine out.
Both pitchers entered the game with an ERA below 2.00, and hits were hard to come by. Arizona State (54-16) posted one hit and NU (51-11) had five.
The Cats elected to walk All-American center fielder Kaitlin Cochran, who was hitting .495 heading into the game, three times, and kept the rest of the Sun Devils off the bases.
“We didn’t want Cochran to beat us today, ” coach Kate Drohan said. “I thought Eileen (Canney)responded beautifully and really stepped up.”
The Sun Devils got one hit on a bunt back to the pitcher’s circle from right fielder Michelle Smith.
Junior Darcy Sengewald, who plays third base, couldn’t reach the ball in time to make a play at first base.
Arizona State put runners in scoring position twice, both occurring because of walks to Cochran.
Cochran reached third base after leading the fourth inning with a walk and advancing on a sacrifice bunt and fielder’s choice. But with two outs, Bianca Cruz flew out to left field. The fly out was the only out recorded in the outfield against Canney.
The Sun Devils threatened again in the sixth inning after Smith recorded the only single. She went to second on a walk to Cochran, but Canney struck out the next hitter and got a pop up to Williams in foul territory to end the inning.
Williams immediately answered the failed rally with her home run. She is hitting 11 for 20 with two home runs in the NCAA Tournament.
Canney has been particularly strong in the NCAA Tournament. She is 5-0 with a 0.11 ERA and 60 strikeouts. She added 11 strikeouts Thursday against Arizona State.
“The defense behind me made it extremely easy to pitch to some of those hitters, because they are a great hitting team,” Canney said. “I think in difficult situations you just have to relax and go back to the things you practice, and the defense made it easier to relax.”
The Cats’ 51st win broke the school record set last season.
Like they have been throughout the postseason, the Cats are looking toward facing Washington and only Washington, which advanced with a 3-1 victory over No. 14 DePaul, getting a no-hitter from pitcher Danielle Lawrie.
“We just take it one game at a time,” Canney said. “Today we were focused on Arizona State. Tonight, tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon we will focus on Washington.”
Reach Philip Rossman-Reich at [email protected].
