By Philip Rossman-ReichThe Daily Northwestern
Northwestern needed three runs against USA Softball Player of the Year Monica Abbott in the seventh inning to avoid elimination in the Women’s College World Series.
But Abbott continued to baffle the Wildcats offense, striking out senior Garland Cooper and sophomore Erin Dyer, and inducing a foul pop out by freshman Nicole Pauly to close their season short of the championship round.
The No. 5 Lady Volunteers picked up two runs in the first inning and one more in the sixth as they eliminated the No. 2 Cats 3-0 at the Women’s College World Series.
“Monica Abbott is clearly at the top of her game right now,” coach Kate Drohan said. “Tennessee did a nice job of putting pressure on our defense, and then adding that third run on at the end.”
Tennessee (62-6) got on the board quickly after loading the bases with nobody out.
Tonya Callahan hit into a fielder’s choice to sophomore shortstop Tammy Williams. But Williams tagged the runner heading to third before throwing home. Dyer played the throw as if it were a force out as left fielder India Chiles came home safely for the first run.
“I knew that there was a force out at home,” Williams said. “That’s obviously what I was going for. Any ground ball I’m going to be charging as hard as I can and I knew she would be running as hard as she could. We just ended up in the same place.”
Tennessee added one more run when catcher Shannon Doepking hit the ball hard towards Pauly at second base. But Cooper, who plays first base, attempted to field it. The ball bounced off her glove for her third error of the year and center fielder Lindsay Schutzler came home to give the Vols a two-run advantage.
NU’s offense couldn’t close the gap against the NCAA’s career wins, strikeouts and shutouts leader.
The Cats (52-13) got one runner into scoring position and two hits off Abbott. Williams singled on a bunt back to the pitcher’s circle in the first inning. She went to second on an illegal pitch to give NU a chance to score first.
But Abbott struck out Cooper and Pauly to end the inning. Senior center fielder Katie Logan hit a bunt single in the sixth inning with two outs to third base for the second hit of the game. But Williams couldn’t deliver this time, striking out to end the inning.
Abbott gave up two hits and had 17 strikeouts. She struck out the side four innings and struck out every NU player at least once.
“It’s easy for all of us to sit here and say, ‘Don’t swing at the rise ball,’ or ‘Swing at this pitch,’ but I think Abbott’s done a nice job of getting that ball closer to the zone,” Drohan said. “It’s tough. We’re a power team. It’s a tough adjustment to shorten up and put the ball in play.”
Canney recovered from a rough first inning, retiring 15 batters in a row. With two outs in the sixth inning, she gave up an RBI double to right fielder Tiffany Huff after she couldn’t field a spinning hit from Callahan. Pinch runner Caitlin Ryan scored from first on the double.
Canney had six strikeouts in her final start for the Cats. The two-time Big Ten Pitcher of the Year tied the school record for wins in a season with her victory Saturday night, but she couldn’t get the win to break the record.
Cooper, who holds the school record for RBIs, hits and home runs, went 0 for 3 and struck out three times.
Logan and senior right fielder Jessica Miller also struggled in their final game. Miller struck out once and Logan struck out twice before getting a hit in the sixth inning.
The final game for this year’s senior class was no indication of what they accomplished in reaching the Women’s College World Series two years in a row. The group had the most wins for any four year period in school history.
“Our group of seniors who are leaving the program in a couple of weeks have broken pretty much every pitching and hitting record we have, but more importantly they changed the culture of our program,” Drohan said. “That mark will always be there.”
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