Thanks to a barrage of home runs, No. 10 Northwestern recorded a rare sweep of arch-rival No. 8 Michigan and powered its way to the top of the Big Ten.
The Wildcats (18-7, 4-0 Big Ten) blasted 12 home runs in their five games during Spring Break, increasing their total to 44 on the season. Senior Tammy Williams led all NU hitters with four home runs. After hitting her eighth blast of the season against Penn State on Sunday, Williams improved her career home run total to 50 home runs. She is five behind Garland Cooper for the school record.
“Home runs are game changers,” sophomore Michelle Batts said. “Our home runs come from us being calm and patient at the plate. Our strength carries the ball out – none of us are actually trying to hit home runs.”
In coach Kate Drohan’s lineup, Williams bats second while Batts has been hitting clean-up. They are joined by freshman Adrienne Monka, junior Nicole Pauly, senior Erin Dyer and junior Kelly Dyer to form one of the most powerful lineups in the country. That foursome accounts for 42 of the team’s 44 home runs.
While Batts, Pauly and Erin Dyer have proved their power in past seasons, Monka and Kelly Dyer are new to the scene. Monka leads the team with 10 home runs while Kelly Dyer has already one-upped her season total from last year with six. For her, the difference is mental.
“I haven’t practiced differently and it’s not mechanics,” she said. “It’s just not thinking so much and believing that I can hit the ball.”
Starting with its first game against No. 8 Michigan (22-9, 0-2), home runs played an integral role in NU’s perfect record over break. In the bottom of the third inning, Kelly Dyer broke a 1-1 tie with the second grand slam of her career. The Cats finished off the Wolverines when sophomore Robin Thompson scored on a Monka single in the bottom of the seventh.
The next day turned out to be more of a pitcher’s duel. But back-to-back solo shots from Williams and Monka in the bottom of the fourth gave NU the 2-1 victory and its first season sweep of Michigan in nine years.
The Cats dominated their next three games, winning by a combined score of 22-5. First, NU crushed Maryland 7-2, thanks to homers from Williams and the Dyer sisters. NU’s next games against Georgetown were cancelled due to rain, but its bats stayed hot against Penn State (9-16, 0-4). The Cats trailed early in the first game against the Nittany Lions, but they broke open the contest with a four-run fourth inning in which Monka and Erin Dyer each went yard. In the second game of the series, NU used home runs from Williams, Batts and Pauly to clobber Penn State 10-0.
“I think last week especially a lot of our runs came from home runs and the runs that they produced,” Williams said. “So that played a big factor in how we performed.”
While their hitting was on display last week, five superb performances from junior ace Lauren Delaney cannot be overlooked. Delaney (17-6) pitched every inning of the five games last week and concluded the week with her 27th career shutout against Penn State. For her efforts against Maryland and Penn State, Delaney was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week for the sixth time in her career.
“Our week went awesome,” Batts said. “We all worked together, and it was just a lot of fun playing together with the team.”
Up next on Wednesday, the Cats take on Michigan State in a doubleheader at Sharon J. Drysdale field. The first game starts at 2 p.m., while the second game is scheduled for 4 p.m.
