April 1, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker softball team saw a 3-2 lead slip away as it fell in a 4-3 nine-inning heartbreaker in the nightcap of Sunday's twin bill with Iowa. The Hawkeyes tied the score in the bottom of the seventh and won the game on a sacrifice fly in the ninth.
Purdue scored three runs on seven hits, while allowing Iowa four runs on nine hits and three errors. Sophomore Katie Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) went 3-for-4 with an RBI to lead the Boilermaker bats, while senior DaQueta Johnson (Ontario, Calif.) posted two hits and two RBI.
Brittany Weil (10-1) earned the win for the Hawkeyes, after tossing three and two thirds innings of relief. Sophomore Ashley DiDomenico (Youngstown, Ohio) went the distance on the mound for the Boilermakers.
As the designated visiting team, Purdue put up two runs on two hits and an error in the opening stanza. Mitchell sent a leadoff single through the left side. Freshman Ashley Barr (Meridian, Idaho) reached on a fielder's choice and Mitchell advanced to second on a fielding error by the second baseman. Freshman Kelsey Haupert (Olympia, Wash.) drew a one-out walk to load the bases. Johnson made good on the RBI opportunity sending a two-out single into right field. A strikeout left two stranded.
The Hawkeyes got one run back on a hit and a walk in the bottom of the inning. Erin Riemersma drew a leadoff walk, then scored as Summer Downs sent a two-out double down the left field line.
Senior Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) singled up the middle in the second, but a double play kept Purdue from adding to its lead.
Iowa got a base runner with a single in the third, but the Boilermakers turned a caught foul ball into a double play to keep the Hawkeyes off the scoreboard.
Johnson added her second hit with a one-out single to right in the fourth, but could not score. Mitchell doubled down the left field line in the fifth, but could not make it home.
The Hawkeyes tied the game at 2-2 with a run on two hits in the fifth. Rachel West doubled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to third before scoring on a Riemersma single to left.
Sophomore Candace Curtis (Danville, Calif.) drew a one-out walk in the sixth, prompting a pitching change for the Hawkeyes. Weil took over in the circle for Amanda Zust and walked Johnson, the first batter she faced. A pop up resulted in a double play to end the Purdue scoring effort.
Sophomore Alicia Spack (West Lafayette, Ind.) singled to right to lead off the seventh. A sacrifice moved her to second, setting the table for an RBI single up the middle by Mitchell, giving Purdue a 3-2 advantage. Mitchell was sacrificed to second, but a pop up brought Iowa to the plate.
The Hawkeyes took advantage two Boilermaker miscues to send the game to extra innings. Sami Baugh reached on a fielding error by the third baseman and was sacrificed to second before scoring unearned on a pinch hit single by Katie Brown. Another Boilermaker error following a sacrifice moved the runner to third, but a pop up kept the game going.
The Boilermakers went down in order in the eighth, then Iowa squandered a pair of singles in the bottom of the inning.
Spack drew a one-out walk in the ninth and was sacrificed to second by Peterson. Mitchell was intentionally walked, but a ground out left both stranded, opening the door for Iowa.
West laid down a bunt single then stole second and third, setting up Mindy Heidgerken's game winning sacrifice fly to center field.
The Boilermakers (18-24-1) return to action at 2 p.m. Tuesday when they take on the Butler Bulldogs in a doubleheader.