All it took was eight swings for freshman Adrienne Monka to set her first school record.
With a single in the top of the first inning against Purdue on Saturday, Monka recorded a hit in her eighth straight at-bat, surpassing Stephanie Churchwell’s previous record of seven, which was set in 2005. Monka’s hit streak came to an end in her next plate appearance, when she flew out to deep center field.
But her streak wasn’t the only one to end Saturday.
Purdue halted Northwestern’s three-game win streak in the first game, as the Cats fell 2-0 in West Lafayette, Ind.
“I think we didn’t come out and play the way we wanted,” senior shortstop Tammy Williams said. “And we didn’t perform very well, so I think that showed in the result.”
In the first game, neither team could get its offense started. NU scattered five hits through seven innings while producing no runs. Purdue only managed one hit in the game, but it took advantage of two Lauren Delaney walks in the bottom of the fourth inning. After the junior hurler walked the first two batters of the inning, a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third. After a strikeout, Delaney’s 37th wild pitch of the year allowed the Boilermakers to score their first run. One batter later, another wild pitch plated a second runner.
That was all the Boilermakers needed, as they escaped with a 2-0 win.
“I think in the first game no one really had the performance they wanted to,” Williams said.
But like night and day, the second game proved a completely different story – there was no shortage of offense as NU clawed back to steal the nightcap from Purdue, 10-8.
The Cats blasted three home runs – two from Monka, her 14th and 15th of the season, and one from Williams – in the first two innings to sprint out to a 5-0 lead. With her pair of blasts in the second game, Monka broke the school’s freshman home run record set by Williams in 2006. NU went on to score five more runs, including four in the sixth, thanks to an Emily Haug double and a Michelle Batts three-run home run.
Delaney had another rough outing, throwing six wild pitches and allowing seven walks, but she was able to close out the Boilermakers and pick up her 25th win of the season.
Although Delaney has been erratic of late, coach Kate Drohan thinks it’s only a matter of time until she is back to her old form.
“I think she’s working through it,” Drohan said. “I think it’s just a matter of feeling good again and getting her timing and her rhythm and trusting her good stuff.”
While Delaney has struggled, Monka has flourished. The Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., native has gone 12-for-14 in the last four games, raising her batting average 75 points to .404. She was honored by the conference Monday, as Big Ten Player of the Week.
“I’m just keeping things simple,” Monka said. “Not trying to do too much, not thinking a lot, just going out there and seeing the ball and hitting it.”
After struggling offensively in the opening game, Monka’s outburst, along with the rest of the team’s production in the nightcap, was crucial to the series split.
“I liked the way we came out offensively in the second game, “Drohan said. “That was key really to our day. We just battled to the end.”
