April 20, 2001
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue softball team fell in doubleheader action today in Iowa City to the Iowa Hawkeyes, 7-1 and 5-4 in nine innings. The Boilermakers fall to 27-21-1 (4-10 Big Ten), while the Hawkeyes improve to 33-10 (9-3 Big Ten).
"The second game was a great effort by both teams," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "It's too bad that a team had to lose. We had chances to win many times and didn't. We have to start finding a way. I thought that Heidi Foster had one of her best games of the year, going 4-4 with a home run. It was a heartbreaking loss, you have to give Iowa credit - they hung in there and kept playing away until they caught up with us."
In the first game, the Boilermakers were able to hold the Hawkeyes to only one run in the first inning, leaving three runners on base after a passed ball and an intentional walk loaded the bases for what would be the last batter of the inning.
Purdue found a way to score in the third inning to even the mark at 1-1 as junior shortstop Katie Crabtree started the inning with a double. Sophomore outfielder Andrea Roush then popped out to the shortstop, but sophomore third baseman Jesse Jones made her way to first on an error by the shortstop and Crabtree advanced to third. Sophomore Briana Hensley pinch ran for Jones and stole second.
Then sophomore Heidi Foster foul-flied out to the left fielder, but tallied the RBI as Crabtree scored and Hensley advanced to third. Junior outfielder Chrissy Davie tagged a solid hit to the shortstop, but grounded out for the last out of the inning.
The Old Gold and Black held on and kept the score knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning, when Purdue errors and Iowa hits combined for a six run inning for the Hawkeyes.
On the mound for Purdue, sophomore Leighann Burke took the loss to fall to 10-10, while pitching 4.1 innings. She allowed four hits, three runs, three walks and struck out three.
Junior Meagan Dooley came in for the relief, pitching 1.2 innings and allowing two hits, four runs and one walk.
In the second game, the Hawkeyes stepped to the plate and notched two runs in the top of the first inning on two hits.
But Purdue had a new fire and was determined to win, tallying four of its own in the bottom of the same inning. First, Roush laid down a bunt and beat the throw to first for a single. Then, senior outfielder Lynne Tortorelli also laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Roush to second. Crabtree followed that up with a single to right field, advancing Roush to third and then stole second while Jones was at the plate.
And so Purdue had runners on first and second and only one out. Jones then had a line drive single to left field and advanced to second on the throw home on an Iowa attempt to make a play at the plate. But it wasn't soon enough, as both Crabtree and Roush scored, to tie the game and give Jones two RBI.
The, Purdue's luck continued to flourish as Foster nailed a home run to deep left center field to score both herself and sophomore Jill Paxson, who had come in to pinch run for Jones on second.
The Boilermakers were up, 4-2, but that would be it for the inning, and eventually the game. Despite a hard hit balls, freshman catcher Sara Hall grounded out on a 5-3 play and Davie put hers down the first base line for a play by the first baseman, as she simply had to touch the bag.
The Hawkeyes found a way to score again in the top of the fifth inning, as the lead-off batter was walked, advanced to third on a double by the second batter and scored on a sacrifice fly by the fourth batter. But they were still down, 4-3.
In the top of the seventh, it would be an error that, again, plagued the Boilermakers, allowing an Iowa runner to make her way to third, and then score on a nice hit by the second batter. The run tied the game at 4-4 and there would have to be extra innings played to determine a winner.
In the top of the eighth inning, Purdue managed to hold the Hawkeyes off in a great defensive effort of three up, three down, to give them an offensive opportunity again.
The inning started with Roush reaching first on an error by the shortstop and then advancing to second on a wild pitch. But Tortorelli laid down another sacrifice bunt to advance Roush to third, with only the one out.
The Iowa defense decided that they would intentionally walk Crabtree, whom they knew was a definite threat at the plate with a runner on third and only one out. Jones came right behind her and hit a deep fly ball to right field.
Coaching on third base, Bruggeman decided to send Roush home on the play. But it wouldn't pay off, as the Hawkeye catcher was able to block her slide and make the tag before Roush could get her foot to the plate.
The Hawkeyes were still undaunted and ready to redeem themselves, as the game headed to the top of the ninth inning.
Finally, first baseman Alicia Gerlach broke the tie by sending a lead-off, one-run home run over the fence to take Iowa up, 5-4.
Purdue wasn't able to score in the bottom of the ninth, despite a hit and a runner on base off of a deep single to center field by Foster.
The Boilermakers will return to the field on Saturday, April 21, at Northwestern at 2 p.m. They will then play the second game of that Big Ten series on Sunday at 1 p.m.
-P-