The difference between the team that dropped consecutive games to Illinois and dominated DePaul on Tuesday was Lauren Delaney.
After an erratic weekend, the junior pitcher was back to her usual form in a 12-4 run-rule victory over the No. 19 Blue Demons. No. 12 Northwestern got eight strikeouts in six solid innings from its ace. Junior Kelly Dyer provided the spark on offense, tying an NU record with eight RBIs.
“Today, we came out and showed how we play – and what type of team we can be,” senior Tammy Williams said.
Delaney recovered after struggling this weekend. She walked 20 and allowed 13 runs in eight and one-third innings against Illinois. On Tuesday, Delaney allowed only four runs, three earned, and four walks. But three of them came after shortstop Robin Thompson missed a tag at third base that could have potentially ended the second inning.
It looked as if Delaney would be off to the antics that had recently plagued her right from the start.
Delaney gave up a double to leadoff hitter Amber Patton, whose batting average for the year sat at .513 entering the game, then walked Lysney Ciezki on a 3-2 wild pitch that allowed Patton to advance to third. Hitting catcher Jackie Tarulli-Fisher loaded the bases with none out.
Delaney struck out the side 12 pitches later, getting out of trouble without even allowing a hitter to put the ball in play.
“Delaney’s been struggling, but fighting through it was awesome,” Dyer said. “For her to come out and have a great game is a really good sign.”
On the offensive side, the ball was flying. Despite a strong head wind blowing in from center field, pitcher Lauren Frankiewicz had trouble keeping the ball in the yard. In the first inning, Tammy Williams and Adrienne Monka gave NU an early lead with back-to-back no-doubt homers.
But the story of the day was Dyer.
“She just had a monster day, ” coach Kate Drohan said.
She started off the barrage in the third by turning a 3-3 tie into a 6-3 lead with a home run to left-center. In her next at-bat, she hit a grand slam to straightaway center to give NU a 10-4 lead and put the game out of reach.
“I just tried to go out there and get a hit,” Dyer said. “When I don’t think about it, that’s when I’m most successful.”
Perhaps the difference for NU is location: The Wildcats have lost four of five Big Ten games on the road, but the win moved them to 10-0 at home.
