March 30, 1999
MUNCIE, Ind. - No fences were needed at Ball State University today.
Purdue softball's Katie Crabtree led the Boilers (19-12) in a sweep of the Cardinals (7-18) on Tuesday with the first-ever inside-the-park home run by a Boilermaker. Crabtree also had a double and a single in the first game of a doubleheader which Purdue won 6-5 in eight innings. Game two was no different, as the Boilers stayed perfect on the day by defeating the Cardinals 10-3.
"We had an awesome offensive explosion in both games today," head coach Carol Bruggeman said. "We were very mentally tough."
Freshman Crabtree got things going early. The Bloomington, Ill., native knocked in three runs in the first inning on her second homerun in three days to put Purdue ahead on the scoreboard. After threatening on offense in the second, Purdue bounced back in the third with two more runs. This time it was classmate Chrissy Davie, whose two-out double scored Crabtree and senior Mandy Smart to up the lead to 5-0.
Ball State came back in the bottom half of the sixth inning when it batted through the line-up and had three players cross the plate. An inning later, on three consecutive Ball State hits, the Cardinals scored two more times before Boiler pitcher Megan Dooley could retire the side.
In extra innings, Purdue warmed up the bats and sent seven hitters to the plate. Smart reached on an error to bring Davie to the dish. After the freshman singled, a wild pitch advanced the runners and a walk to pinch hitter freshman Danika Nice loaded the bases for senior Sam Mercier. The former walk-on sent a Cardinal pitch deep into left field for a sacrifice to score classmate Smart from third. Purdue held Ball State in the bottom half of the inning to pull out the win.
Dooley was sent back to the mound for the second match-up of the afternoon and she delivered a win. The freshman improved to 11-5 in her debut season by allowing three runs on six hits, but was helped out by big Boiler bats. Purdue totaled 14 hits, including three extra-base hits; triples by Crabtree and Davie and a double by junior Skeeter Nixon.
The Boilermakers fell behind in the first when Ball State put two runs in the book, but Purdue bounced back and had three Boilers cross the plate over the next two innings to take the lead. In the top of the fifth, Purdue scored three times on as many hits and crossed the plate twice more in the next inning to pull away. The Cardinals rebounded in bottom of the sixth and scored one time, but tough Boiler defense shut down the attack.
"The last week we've been in splitsville, winning the first game of doubleheaders, but losing the second," Bruggeman said. "Today we found the right combination."
Purdue will return home to host Minnesota for a three-game series at the Varsity Softball Complex on April 3-4. The first pitch will be thrown at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
R H EPURDUE 6 9 0Ball State 5 8 2
PURDUE 10 14 1Ball State 3 6 4