Feb. 19, 2000
By Tom Schott
RALEIGH N.C. - Through its first eight games, each of the Purdue softball team's five home runs were solo shots.
Freshman third baseman Jessica Jones changed all that Saturday night with a three-run blast, but it wasn't enough as the Boilermakers dropped an 8-6 decision to Boston University in the Triangle Classic.
Jones broke a 3-apiece tie with her homer to straight away center field in the bottom of the fourth inning off Boston starting pitcher Robyn King. It was Jones' second round-tripper of the day, following her opposite field shot against Temple in Meagan Dooley's 1-0 no-hitter.
Purdue appeared poised for its first back-to-back victories of the year, maintaining a 6-3 lead into the sixth inning. Then the Terriers parlayed four hits, an error and a wild pitch into five runs off reliever Leighann Burke. King started the uprising with a home run of her own to center field, and third baseman Aryn Rangel drove in the go-ahead run six batters later with a one-out single.
"I saw a lot of good things tonight," Purdue coach Carol Bruggeman said. "But we have to figure out a way to put everything together in the same game. We got great pitching and defense against Temple and then got our offense going against Boston but didn't pitch well or play defense. Right now, we are playing like the young team that we put out on the field."
Burke (1-3), working in relief of starter Nicole Crouse, was saddled with the loss after giving up five hits with one walk and three strikeouts over the final 4.1 innings. Croue surrendered three runs over the first 2.2 innings.
The Boilermakers scored two runs without the benefit of a hit in the second inning. With two outs, designated player Danika Nice was hit by a pitch and the next four batters walked: second baseman Andrea Roush, catcher Keely Povlitz, center fielder Lynne Tortorelli and left fielder Shahara Nixon.
Nixon collected three of Purdue's eight hits, while shortstop Katie Crabtree had two.
Boston reliever Robyn Horrick earned the win after holding the Boilermakers to three hits over three scoreless innings.
Purdue plays either Radford or Youngstown State at 10 a.m. Sunday. If the Boilermakers win, they will play again at 2 p.m. before returning to West Lafayette.