MVP effort

By the News Tribune staff

Published: Sunday, May 11, 2008 9:49 AM CDT

EVANSTON, Ill. - Lauren Delaney tossed her third straight Big 10 Tournament shutout Saturday afternoon to lead the Northwestern Wildcats to a 1-0 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the championship game.

Delaney, a sophomore from Helias High School, allowed two hits and three walks while striking out nine on her way to being selected Tournament MVP.

With the win, Delaney improved to 34-8 on the season to break the school's single-season win record previously held by Lisa Ishikawa (1984) and Eileen Canney (2007).

Delaney also struck out the first Iowa batter of the game for her 400th strikeout of the season.

Top-seeded Northwestern tallied the game's lone run on a solo homer by Erin Dyer in the fourth inning.

The Hawkeyes had runners at second and third with two outs in the in the bottom of the frame, but a strikeout by Delaney ended the threat. Iowa had a runner at second with one out in the sixth, but two Delaney strikeouts ended the inning.

With the win, the Wildcats (37-13) have clinched a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The entire field will be announced Sunday night.

III

On Thursday, Delaney and fellow Helias graduate Emily Haug earned All-Big 10 Conference honors for the season.

Delaney was named the Big 10 Pitcher of the Year after winning all 18 of Northwestern's conference victories this season. She held conference opponents to a .146 batting average and racked up 188 strikeouts in Big 10 play.

She also was named to the all-conference first team.

Haug, also a sophomore, was named to the second team at the designated player position. Haug batted .370 with two doubles and a home run in seven starts and nine pinch-hit appearances for Northwestern in conference play.

Haug is second on the Wildcats with a .409 average in 29 games. She has two home runs and 13 RBI.


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