Back-to-Back Jacks Propel Northwestern to an All-Wildcats Final

My heart can’t take much more.

In a thrilling 3-1 win over NCAA powerhouse UCLA, the Northwestern Wildcats showed everyone that the Big Ten does, indeed, have a place in the Women’s College World Series. For the first time in school history, Northwestern has advanced to its first WCWS championship series and tallied its first-ever 50-win season (50-13). They will face Arizona tonight at 7 p.m. (CDT).

The Wildcats are the only undefeated team remaining in the WCWS, and their power at-bat was evident in the three home runs they scored yesterday.

Senior catcher Jamie Dotson got the rally started at the top of the second inning by driving a 2-0 pitch from UCLA hurler Anjelica Selden over the right field wall to give Northwestern a 1-0 lead.

Junior ace pitcher Eileen Canney allowed the Bruins just three hits in the first six innings; but she also walked a pair and had to work out of a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, getting Tara Henry to ground out to short with two outs, as Tammy Williams made a nice running throw on the speedy outfielder's infield chopper.

UCLA struggled toward a comeback in the bottom of the seventh, getting three hits off Canney. Jodie Legaspi led off with a double down the third-base line. After a sacrifice bunt moved her to third, Canney got a groundout to Darcy Sengewald for the second out of the frame. Then Kristen Dedmon’s pinch-hit single allowed Legaspi to cross the plate with the game's tying run.

Going into extra innings, the Wildcats dugout knew that they had to make their next three at-bats count, and neither freshman Tammy Williams nor junior Garland Cooper disappointed.

With back-to-back homers, they brought the crowd to its feet and crushed any hopes of Bruins sophomore pitcher Anjelica Selden salvaging the game for her team. Selden, who last year suffered a similar extra-inning fate in Game 3 of the championship series when Michigan's Samantha Findlay took her deep, Williams and Cooper provided the final margin in Northwestern's 3-1 win.

Last night’s win gives Northwestern the opportunity to become the second Big Ten team in a row, and the second ever, to win the national title.