Baylor head coach Glenn Moore gave himself a little extra time to think about starting pitcher Kirsten Shortridge instead of usual starter Lisa Ferguson.
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In the bottom of the third with Baylor trailing by six runs, Moore was ejected for arguing a called third strike against first baseman Ashley Monceaux. First base umpire Jerry Bark ejected Moore, who was coaching third.
While Moore was ejected with the game out of reach, the decision to start Shortridge was more responsible for Baylor's 7-0 loss to Northwestern, played in front of a WCWS-record crowd of 8,222. The Wildcats (52-12) will play Tennessee and pitcher Monica Abbott at about 2 p.m. Sunday.
Shortridge was charged with three runs in 2 1/3 innings of work, including the three outs she got when she returned in the seventh. The last run charged to Shortridge in the second scored when Northwestern shortstop Tammy Williams hit a three-run home run off Ferguson (in relief) to make the score 5-0. NU first baseman Garland Cooper homered on the next pitch for a 6-0 lead, with the ball deflecting off Baylor (50-16) center fielder Miriam Romero's glove. Northwestern second baseman Nicole Pauly homered in the fourth to end the scoring.
Wildcats pitcher Eileen Canney recovered from a difficult Friday night against Washington by throwing a complete-game shutout for the win. She struck out Romero in the second with two outs to escape a bases-loaded situation.
