March 20, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue softball team beat IUPUI twice today at the Varsity Softball Complex in its home season-opener. The Boilermakers defeated the Jaguars 9-1 and 8-0, as they improve their record to 22-9 and the Jaguars fall to 3-15.
"Today it felt great to play at home," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "Coming into the games today, one of our goals was to have double-digit hits and with 14 and 10, you can see that we did accomplish that.
"I thought that Leighann Burke and Nicole Crouse both pitched nice games and kept the IUPUI hitters off balance all day. We're looking forward to playing and hosting the Boilermaker Invitational this weekend."
The Old Gold and Black started the first game off strong from the beginning, tallying three runs on two hits in the first inning. Purdue leadoff batter and junior shortstop Katie Crabtree started it off with an infield single to the shortstop, followed by an Angi Roembke bunt, intended as a sacrifice, but safe on the base. Then, freshman second baseman Andrea Hillsey was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs and junior first baseman Heidi Foster was walked in the clean-up position to send Crabtree home.
Then, junior center fielder Andrea Roush hit into a double play, but Hillsey and Roembke were both able to advance, scoring Roembke from third. Next up, the designated player Laura Martin was walked and then stole second, as Hillsey stole home to complete the double steal play. The IUPUI pitcher would walk two more Purdue batters, but the scoring drive was over, at least for the inning.
In the bottom of the third inning, Purdue gathered two more runs off of a Jesse Jones two-run home run, her third of the season. And then in the bottom of the fourth, Roembke singled, was advanced to second by a Hillsey sacrifice and then scored on Roush's chalk line double on the left field line. Then, Roush was hit home by Martin's single up the middle for the RBI.
IUPUI was able to score one run in the top of the sixth inning, when catcher Julie Wooten hit a sacrifice fly that went foul, but was able to score left fielder Meagan Fultz.
The Boilermakers finished the Jaguars off in the bottom of the sixth, needing two more runs to complete the run-ruled game short of seven innings. The hits started with a Martin single, a Jones single and a freshman Shelli Messer single that scored freshman Katie Absher, pinch running for Martin.
Sophomore Angela Knight hit another single up the middle that loaded the bases and then Roembke walked for the RBI that would score the winning run.
At the plate for Purdue, Roembke went 3 for 3 with two runs and one RBI, Martin was 2 for 2 with one RBI and Jones was also perfect, going 2 for 2 with two runs and two RBI.
On the mound for Purdue, junior Leighann Burke tallied her 30th career victory with the 9-1 win. Burke, who earned her ninth victory of the year, held a no-hitter through five full innings while striking out eight and walking three batters.
In the second game, the Boilermakers came out and tallied two runs in the first inning to start things smoothly, as well. Crabtree started things off with a single up the middle and Hillsey came up with a single down the left field line as the three-batter. Foster gathered the inning's two RBI with a double to left centerfield, scoring both Hillsey and Crabtree, before being left on second base.
In the bottom of the second, Crabtree doubled to left centerfield for an RBI that scored Messer, who reached on a double herself.
The IUPUI defense held Purdue scoreless in the third, but in the fourth, the Boilermakers' bats made an even stronger statement than before, tallying four hits and four runs on two Jaguar errors.
Messer hit her second double of the day to centerfield to lead off the scoring drive for Purdue and Knight continued the run by laying down an RBI bunt that scored Messer, who went home on an error by the IUPUI first baseman.
Then, Crabtree singled through the right side of the infield and stole second, while Knight stole third. Roembke followed, laying down another bunt and causing the Jaguars' third baseman to check the runner at third before making a play at first. But, Roembke was too quick and by the time she went for the throw, Roembke was already safe on the bag, giving her no play on the fielder's choice. Hillsey flew out with a deep fly ball, but Foster singled and advanced Roembke, Crabtree and Knight to cross the plate, both by her hit and a combination of IUPUI throwing errors.
Purdue tallied three-up, three-down defensive innings in both the next two Jaguar at-bats, and tallied their one-needed run in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Crabtree scored after singling through the left side and advancing around on an error by the pitcher.
At the plate in the second game, Crabtree went 4 for 4 with three runs and one RBI, Messer went 2 for 3 with two runs for the first two extra-base hits of her career, and Knight went 1 for 1 with one run and one RBI.
On the mound, senior Nicole Crouse pitched her fourth consecutive shutout game to improve her record to 7-3 on the year. She walked two and struck out four en-route to the complete game shutout.
The Boilermakers will return to the field when they host the annual Boilermaker Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, March 23 and 24. Games will begin at 9 a.m., with the Boilermakers playing at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday. Coming to West Lafayette will be Oakland, Gardner-Webb and IPFW.
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