April 19, 2001
CHICAGO, Ill. - The Purdue softball team fell today to the Loyola (Chicago) Ramblers, 4-3, in non-conference action in Chicago. The Boilermakers fall to 27-19-1, while the Ramblers improve to 11-16.
"Today was a disappointing loss," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "We need to find a way to get out of our rut and someone or something needs to be our sparkplug - whether that's offense, defense, something. You have to give Loyola credit, they hung in there and they wanted it more than we did. They were able to get most of their runs in the last couple of innings and we were flat. Leighann (Burke) also pitched a great game. It's unfortunate that she had to take the loss today."
The Boilermakers and the Ramblers both started out a little slow, with neither team scoring until the fourth inning. Purdue's run started as sophomore catcher Jesse Jones took a walk and freshman Angela Knight pinch ran at first base. Sophomore outfielder Andrea Roush laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Knight to second, just before she was able to advance to third on a passed ball. Junior designated player Chrissy Davie fouled one off, only to have it caught by the third baseman for the second out of the inning.
Then, with two outs, sophomore outfielder Angi Roembke slapped to the shortstop and was called out at first but, due to an over-ruled call by the plate umpire, was awarded first for beating out the throw, after both teams had already switched positions and sophomore pitcher Leighann Burke had thrown five or six warm-up pitches.
Due to the over-turned play, Roembke was also awarded the RBI and Knight's run counted to put the Boilermakers up, 1-0. Freshman Holly Streed stepped to the plate and smacked her fourth double of the season to score Roembke. Streed then advanced to second on the throw home in an attempt to pick off Roembke, but would become the third out, as she was called for leaving second base early on a hit by freshman third baseman Nicole Austin.
Loyola made its comeback as lead-off batter Kara McEldowney reached first on an error by Purdue's second baseman and then stole to second. Burke was able to redeem something for Purdue as she struck out Katie Blackmore, looking, but the next batter also reached first on an error by the second baseman and McEldowney reached third.
The Ramblers scored their first run on a double steal attempt with a run down, but both runners were able to make it to the plate and second under Purdue tags. Next, Susan Scott doubled down the left field line and Yasmin Khan advanced to third, but was tagged out at home with an unassisted run down by Jones.
The Old Gold and Black was able to get out of the inning with a ground out on a 4-3 play and came back up to the plate ready to go again.
First, Austin singled to center field. Then junior shortstop Katie Crabtree stepped up and sacrifice bunted Austin to second.
The hits kept coming as senior outfielder Lynne Tortorelli singled to center field and advanced to second on the throw in an attempt to catch Austin at the plate. But it wouldn't be in time, as she scored to make it 3-1, Purdue.
That was the end of Purdue's luck for the inning though, as sophomore first baseman Heidi Foster hit a hard line drive that was barely snagged by the Loyola shortstop. Tortorelli was caught by surprise too, caught in the double play as the Ramblers simply touched the bag to end the inning.
Purdue would hold Loyola until the sixth inning, after a pitching change where junior Nicole Crouse replaced Burke. Crouse struck out the first batter, but McEldowney was able to walk and then score when Blackmore doubled and advanced to third on the throw home.
The Boilermakers were able to recover quickly, though, as Khan lined into a double play at shortstop and Blackmore was picked off at third.
Going into the top of the seventh, the Old Gold and Black was still up, 3-2, despite many chances by the Ramblers to take control. But the Boilermakers weren't able to tally an extra "insurance" run, as Loyola took them, three-up, three-down.
Loyola wasn't ready to give up on the possibility of a win on its home field and came out with a fire to play in the bottom of the seventh. Scott was able to tally a line drive single up the middle to be the first Rambler on base, signaling Bruggeman that it was time for another pitching change - back to Burke, that is.
So with one runner on first, Burke re-took the mound and tallied an out as Stanley sacrificed Scott to second with a bunt. Then, re-entering the game in her original spot, Natalie Martin reached first on a fielder's choice as Scott took too big of a lead off second and was picked off by Jones, who had moved to her usual third base spot.
Next, Ashley Gibbons reached first on an error by Burke and Martin advanced to second, just before Kim Cummings singled and advanced to second on the throw to score Martin from second for the RBI and the tying run. Gibbons was able to advance to second and then third on the throw.
The Boilermakers' best hope now was extra innings, but that would not be as Schultz hit a strong single down the right field line for another RBI and the winning run as Gibbons scored from third.
In Burke's innings on the mound, she recorded the loss to fall to 10-9 on the season with 5.2 innings pitched. She allowed only three hits and two runs, while striking out seven.
Crouse pitched 1.0 inning, allowing two hits, one walk and two runs with one strike out.
The Boilermakers will look to get back on track at Iowa on Friday with a conference doubleheader at 2 p.m. The Hawkeyes are currently tied for second in the Big Ten standings, with a record of 7-3.
-P-