May 2, 2006
Box Score
DEKALB, Ill. - Illinois State's hitters jumped all over Northern Illinois' pitcher in the opening frame and the 'Birds never looked back as they shut out the Huskies, 7-0 in DeKalb. A strong performance in the circle by Stacy Birk helped the Redbirds improve to 34-12 overall. The 'Birds compiled 11 hits in their first game in nearly a week after their three games at Northern Iowa were rained out last weekend.
"I thought we came out really strong and that was good to see," ISU head coach Melinda Fischer said. "We had some bright spots ... we came out strong offensively and made some nice plays on the defensive end. I really think the rest kind of helped a little bit. The main thing we were able to do was really concentrate on the task at hand. That to me is so important because this is a crazy time of year (with finals coming up). Now we've got to take care of business on the academic side and then head down to Springfield, Missouri."
Tricia Gaither, the first batter of the game, started the ISU rally with an infield hit and came around to score on Randi Patton's double to left center. After Amber Smith reached on a walk, the 'Birds had runners on first and second for Birk, who was batting in the cleanup spot. Birk drove a single up the middle, plating Patton to put ISU up by two early.
Smith reached on a one-out single to right field to get things going in the third. Then the 'Birds had two runners on the base paths as the Huskies' second baseman dropped the throw at second on the double play attempt. Following a walk which loaded the bases, Casey Gorrell hit a two-run single to right field giving Illinois State a four-run lead.
Tiffany Prager helped the 'Birds put a run on the board in the fourth after leading off the frame with a double. She then scored on Smith's two-out single to left field. ISU put another two runs on the board in the fifth. Gorrell hit a double to left field with one out, and scored on Katie Guilbault's single when the NIU left fielder bobbled the ball on the relay. Then Kaprice Williams reached safely on a fielder's choice, and Prager drove Williams in with her second straight double, which put the 'Birds up by seven for the final margin.
Northern Illinois (20-24) compiled just three hits against Birk, who improved to 18-7. Each of the Huskies' hits came in a different inning as Birk struck out four and walked one. Taryn Hagemann (6-14) shouldered the loss for NIU. She scattered 11 hits while fanning three and walking a pair. Smith, Gorrell, Guilbault and Prager each had a pair of hits for Illinois State, while Gorrell was the RBI leader with two.
