March 12, 2000
TAMPA, Fla. - The Purdue softball team lost to Michigan State 5-4 in the consolation bracket at the Speedline Invitational in Tampa, Fla., Sunday morning. The Boilermakers, 10-11 overall, scored four runs on four hits in the top of the first inning, but could only manage two hits over the final six to let the Spartans steal the victory and eliminate Purdue.
"I'll say it again," coach Carol Bruggeman said. "This was a game we were very close to putting away. Once again we had opportunities to win this one offensively and we didn't execute. Defensively we were very solid, but we didn't do it with the bats. We jumped out to an early lead and let our intensity and focus falter. It's tough to lose a game like this, but hopefully the team learned a valuable lesson about staying aggressive and not letting up."
The Boilermakers looked liked they would dominate the game in the first inning. Skeeter Nixon led off the top of the inning with a walk and moved to second on her 10th stolen base of the season. After a pop-out by Danika Nice, Katie Crabtree joined Nixon on base with a walk. Heidi Foster then ripped a line drive right at the leftfielder who made the grab for the second out. The next four Purdue hitters all singled, driving Spartan starter DeJong from the game. Jesse Jones started the hit parade with a single to left to score Nixon from second and move Crabtree to third. Chrissy Davie followed with a single up the middle to plate Crabtree and move Jones to second. The next Boiler batter, Angi Roembke, greeted reliever Erica Strutz with a single to center to score Jones. Keely Povlitz stepped up and shot a ground ball that found its way through the Spartan left side into the outfield to score Davie for the final run of the inning.
The Spartans then went on the offensive, scoring a run in the second on a wild pitch and tying the game in the fourth with a base clearing triple. The trouble started in the fourth when Jones bobbled Lacy Hauxhurst's grounder to third, allowing her to reach without a throw. Starter Leighann Burke, battling an erratic strike zone, then proceeded to walk the next to hitters to load the bases. Burke was relieved by Meagan Dooley, who was rudely greeted by Spartan leadoff hitter Shealee Dunavan. Dunavan lined Dooley's first offering to the gap to right-center, clearing the bases before being thrown out at home by Jones on the relay throw.
The game remained tied through seven innings with neither team mounting any scoring threat. Per the international tie-breaker rule, each team started the eighth with a runner on second. With Purdue failing to score in the top half of the inning, the Spartans ended the contest in the bottom half when Tiffany Wallace singled home Tiffany Thomas with the game winning run.
Dooley took the loss for the Boilers, who were eliminated from the tournament with a 2-4 record. Skeeter Nixon finished the game 2-for-3, with a walk, two stolen bases and a run scored.
Purdue will remain in Tampa for spring break with a day off on Monday and practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, before participating in the USF-Clearwater Tournament Thursday-Sunday.