In their quest to push their Big Ten record over .500 for the first time this season, Northwestern couldn’t have asked for a better opponent.
In sweeping the weekend series against Michigan State (11-39, 0-20 Big Ten), the Wildcats (24-27, 11-10) piled up 30 hits and 28 runs while giving up only eight hits and two runs.
“We just had a really balanced attack, offensively, with a great combination of speed and power,” coach Kate Drohan said, “and then some really clutch hits when we needed to put the game away.”
Each game featured a different star for the Cats.
In the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, designated player Amy Letourneau exploded for seven RBIs courtesy of three extra-base hits, including a grand slam in the third inning that landed in the Red Cedar River near Secchia Stadium.
Senior first baseman Adrienne Monka continued her blistering offensive streak with four RBIs of her own. Three other Cats drove in runs and a Spartan error pushed across another for a final score of 15-1 in five innings. Monka was back at it in the second game on Saturday, blasting her 12th home run of the season over the right-field wall.
Letourneau also stepped up for the Cats, this time from the circle. The freshman took a no-hitter into the fifth, finally allowing a hit with two outs in the inning. Letourneau said the thought of a no-hitter wasn’t at the forefront of her mind. “I really didn’t think about it,” she said. “I was just thinking about who was up next and what I had to do to get them out in the next inning.”
Letourneau earned the complete-game victory, giving up four hits and one run in the 5-1 win. The teams took the field again Sunday, and sophomore Marisa Bast kept the offense rolling for the Cats. With the bases loaded in the first inning, the third baseman powered a ball over the left-field fence for the Cats’ second grand slam of the weekend.
“The pitch that I fouled off (just before) was outside so I was kind of zoning inside,” Bast said. “Then she threw it there so I just swung and hoped for the best.”
With the Cats already leading 6-0 in the fourth inning, Monka took another ball deep for the 54th homer of her career, moving her ahead of Nicole Pauly for the third-most home runs in NU history. The shot also tied her with Bast for the most home runs in the Big Ten this season.
Junior Meghan Lamberth continued the string of strong pitching performances, allowing two hits and no runs in the 8-0, five-inning victory.
After a sloppy outing at DePaul last Wednesday, the team focused a lot on minimizing errors leading up to the Michigan State series, Drohan said. Their efforts were obvious on the field, as the team committed no errors in the three-game series.
“It really showed with the way our pitchers were confident on the mound,” Drohan said. “They were very aggressive in working ahead and attacking the batters. They had great confidence in our defense.”
The weekend sweep gives the Cats some much-needed momentum and keeps them in the discussion for the postseason.
“I think we’re turning a corner here,” Drohan said. “That’s a powerful feeling and when we took the field yesterday, our team just had great poise and a great competitive spirit about them.”
