With the way things were going, the last thing Northwestern fans expected was coach Kate Drohan watching the end of a doubleheader from outside the right field fence.
The No. 6 Wildcats (23-8, 9-1 Big Ten) had won 12 straight games and hadn’t even trailed since going down 1-0 in the third inning of a 5-3 victory against Penn State on March 28th.
If that wasn’t enough, Drohan had never been ejected during her seven-plus years at NU.
After a 4-3 double play in the top half of the sixth, with NU down 8-2 already, that changed. After briefly talking to first base umpire Jay McGivern, Drohan was tossed.
“The call was confusing, and I was looking for clarification,” Drohan said. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Even in the Cats’ 6-1 win in game one, it was clear something was wrong. Despite giving up only one unearned run and striking out eight, junior pitcher Lauren Delaney struggled with her control. She walked six and threw four wild pitches. Multiple pitches without runners on also made it to the backstop.
“It was just an off day, ” Delaney said. “My timing was off. I don’t think it was any one thing in particular.”
Even with a five-run cushion, the win was uncomfortable. Delaney was aided by three insurance runs in the top of the seventh, but still needed a bases loaded strikeout to end the first game.
Her control issues continued throughout the second game. By the time Drohan gave Delaney the hook for Jessica Smith in the fifth, she had thrown six walks, a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch.
“I was getting hit,” Delaney said. “Nobody likes to get taken out of the game, but I wasn’t doing very well.”
Smith’s only inning of the year had come in mop-up duty Saturday while the Cats held a healthy 8-0 lead against Indiana. But with Delaney’s early struggles, Drohan thought this was the time for a move, if ever.
“It was a chance to turn the game around,” Drohan said. “I wanted to change the feel of the game.”
But her replacement didn’t. Smith coaxed the first batter she faced into a grounder that would have ended the inning, but Nicole Pauly dropped it. Two wild pitches allowed the Golden Gophers to extend their lead to 4-1.
In the next inning, Smith gave up three hits before she was replaced by Delaney with two outs.
Delaney went on to allow two more runs on wild pitches, but the damage was done. NU was down 8-1, and for the first time in almost a month, headed to a loss.
“Lauren Delaney and Jessica Smith both have the ability to hit their spots, and throw great games, as we’ve seen them do,” Erin Dyer said. “Today was just not that day. Everybody has their off-days.”
