May 5, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue softball team finished its home season on a winning note today, defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 3-1 in Big Ten action at the Varsity Softball Complex. With the win, the Boilermakers keep the hope of the Big Ten Tournament alive and improve their record to 33-24-1 (8-11 Big Ten). The Hoosiers fall to 16-35 (4-15 Big Ten).
"Today was an outstanding win for us," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "I think it's really nice for our seniors to go out with a win on their home field, because they are such a fantastic group of young women. We really hit through IU today, I thought. Even the outs that we made were good, hard outs. Leighann Burke pitched another great game, Indiana wasn't able to really get any hard hits off of her today and our defense played very solid behind her, as well."
The Boilermakers demonstrated early that their defense would be a strong point, as the second out of the first inning brought a collision in right center field between Purdue's senior center fielder Lynne Tortorelli and sophomore right fielder Andrea Roush. A deep fly ball was the cause of the collision and confusion, but Roush hung onto the ball and made the out.
The defense shown in the first inning quickly brought some offense in the bottom of the first inning as Purdue scored its first run off of two hits. Tortorelli started the rally with a line drive single to right field and then stole second. Sophomore third baseman Jesse Jones was walked just before sophomore first baseman and clean-up batter Heidi Foster was looking for a big hit with runners on first and second.
But Foster struck out swinging. Roush then stepped up and smacked a crucial double that advanced Jones to third and scored Tortorelli. Freshman designated player Sara Hall hit a deep fly ball to center field, but the Indiana center fielder was able to make the catch for the third out.
Purdue would tally two more hits in the bottom of the second inning after producing a 3-up, 3-down top half of the inning with their defense. Senior catcher Keely Povlitz started the run off with a single the fell into right field just behind the first baseman. Then freshman second baseman Holly Streed grounded into a 4-3 play at first, advancing Povlitz to second. Next, junior shortstop Katie Crabtree singled to left field and advanced to second on the Indiana throw home, as they successfully attempted to hold Povlitz at third. Tortorelli would finish out the inning for the Boilermakers on a check swing, which the field umpire ruled that she had swung through.
The third inning went through with 3-up, 3-down on both sides of the plate, bringing the Hoosiers quickly back to bat.
Indiana started its fourth inning at-bat with a ground out to Jones at third, just before Mattke tallied an infield single to third on a hit just out of Jones' reach. IU recorded its second out as Hanson had a line drive that Streed reached and snagged. Mattke advanced to second on a passed ball and Stillians singled up the middle to put Mattke at third.
Next, Suca came through with two outs and singled just over both Crabtree and Jones' heads for the RBI, scoring Mattke and advancing Stillians to second. Narewski finished out the inning, as she looked at sophomore pitcher Leighann Burke's third strike, right down the middle.
Purdue answered the Hoosiers' score in the bottom of the fourth as Hall led off the inning with a double to left center field. Freshman Angela Knight pinch ran for Hall and then advanced to third when sophomore left fielder Angi Roembke bunted down the third base line and beat the throw at first for the infield hit. Then Povlitz fouled out along the right field line, but tallied the RBI and the sacrifice as Roembke advanced to second and Knight slid home under the tag. That would be it for the Old Gold and Black in the fourth inning, though, as Streed and Crabtree tallied the next two outs.
The Hoosiers continued to try and make the comeback, but the Boilermakers' defense and Burke's pitching was too much, combined with an insurance run by Purdue in the fifth inning, as Heidi Foster nailed her eighth home run of the season.
The Boilermakers will return to action tomorrow at the IU Softball Field at 2 p.m. for the second game of the split series with the Hoosiers.
-P-