April 1, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue softball team finished its weekend with a 1-0 win over the Wisconsin Badgers today at the Varsity Softball Complex. The Boilermakers improve their record to 25-10-1 (2-2 Big Ten), while the Badgers fall to 20-13 (3-1 Big Ten).
"Today we played with flawless defense," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "We had runners in scoring position six out of the seven innings and it was just a really great team win. Both Meagan (Dooley) and Leighann (Burke) pitched great today and really shut down Wisconsin, but it was truly our defense that was our strong point today."
Despite the fact that it was Purdue's defense that won the game, the first pitch of the game told a different story, as if Purdue would dominate on the offensive side.
As the first batter of the day, sophomore outfielder Andrea Roush stepped to the plate and swung at the first pitch for a deep home run just left of the 220 sign in center field. It was Roush's first home run of both the year and her collegiate career. Roush finished her day going 2-4 with one run and one hit.
"That pitch was unusual for me," said Roush. "I usually always watch the first pitch go by, whether it's a ball or a strike. But that one just looked good and I decided to swing. We had runners in scoring position all day, so it's amazing that that one run held on the whole way, to give us the win, but I'm glad it did."
The Boilermakers' defense was able to tally its 15th shutout of the season and leave eight Badger runners on base, as Wisconsin left runners in scoring position in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Badgers turned attempted a comeback and cranked out two singles to place runners at first and second with no outs. Sophomore Leighann Burke came to the mound for Purdue and allowed a single up the middle by Meghann Reiss who advanced to second on the throw from Purdue's Lynne Tortorelli in center field to freshman catcher Sara Hall to make the play at the plate. Badger Sarah Lippert was called out with a runner right behind her at third.
Burke then pitched a swinging strikeout to Jennifer Grill for the third out, leaving the runners at second and third with only one at-bat left on both sides.
On the mound for Purdue, junior Meagan Dooley started her 10th game of the season and pitched 5.1 innings for her fifth shared shutout to improve her personal record to 8-2. Dooley allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two, facing 22 batters. Burke, a lefty, pitched 1.2 innings for one hit, no walks and one strikeout, facing five batters.
Wisconsin's Jennifer Cummings pitched a complete game for the loss, allowing four hits, one run, one walk and six strikeouts. She faced 25 Purdue batters and fell to 6-5 on the year.
The Boilermakers will be back in action on Tuesday, April 3, when they host the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Game time is 2 p.m. for the doubleheader at the Purdue Varsity Softball Complex. The game will also be broadcast on the web at www.purduesports.com with Sports Information Director Tom Schott calling the action.
-P-