March 14, 1999
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The run finally came to an end for the Purdue softball team (12-7) on Sunday morning. After winning six of seven, including a dramatic comeback victory over Arkansas (20-11) the night before, Purdue fell to conference-foe Iowa (13-6) in the final four of the National Invitational Softball Tournament.
"We really turned the corner in this tournament. I thought we played outstanding," head coach Carol Bruggeman said. "We just ran out of gas today."
Purdue was playing its eighth game in two and a half days, when it lost to No. 23 Iowa 9-1. The Boilers won three games on Friday and three out of four on Saturday, primarily on the strength of two pitchers and great hitting. As a team, the Boilers hit .336 with 73 hits in the NIST with a team-ERA of 3.23. Four of their six victories were by one run.
Senior Denise Szany earned all-tournament honors after hitting .476 (10-for-21) with two doubles and seven RBI. Other standouts included freshman Katie Crabtree, who hit .458 (11-for-24) with five stolen bases, senior Mandy Smart, who batted .400 (10-for-25), and junior Skeeter Nixon, who hit .370 (10-for-27) with two home runs.
Freshman pitchers Nicole Crouse (6-3) and Meagan Dooley (6-4) were both 3-1 in the tournament. At one point, Crouse had allowed two earned runs in 23.2 innings. Together, the two combined to pitch 52 innings, as junior pitcher Crystal Inman remained on the bench with a rib injury.
Against the Hawkeyes, Purdue managed to take an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but it was quickly erased when Iowa hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning. Iowa never looked back, scoring eight more runs by the fifth inning behind the pitching of Kelly Zeilstra (6-3). Purdue also fell to Iowa's Zeilstra last weekend in the Speedline Invitational. The Boilers scattered six hits in the game and stranded six runners to Iowa's three.
The night before, Purdue rallied to score three runs in the bottom of the seventh to upend Arkansas (20-11). Senior Jenny Barnett tied the score in the fifth with a three-run homer and Szany tied the score again in the seventh, with a two-run double. Smart brought home the winning run with a two-out, two-strike single. The teams combined for 30 hits (17 by Purdue) with three lead changes and four ties.
It was Arkansas' (20-11) fifth game of the day and Purdue's (12-6) fourth. Both teams were tired, hungry and arm-weary, but a victory meant a spot in the final four of the 20-team NIST. The outcome included 30 hits, three lead changes and a Boilermaker comeback that will not soon be forgotten.
"It was the most energetic and fun game that I've ever played in," Nixon said.
Purdue will now travel to Moraga, Calif., on March 16 for a doubleheader against St. Mary's at 2 p.m.
R H EArkansas 10 13 2Purdue 11 17 2
Purdue 1 6 0Iowa 9 10 0