April 17, 2007
INDIANAPOLIS - The Boilermaker softball team launched a single-game record tying four home runs en route to a 6-0 victory over IUPUI in Game 1 of the Tuesday doubleheader.
Purdue got two base runners in the second inning as freshman Kelsey Haupert (Olympia, Wash.) walked and freshman Jenna Alexander (Rancho Murieta, Calif.) laid down a bunt single. A fielder's choice and ground out gave the Boilermakers two runners in scoring position, but a grounder to second base kept the game scoreless.
Sophomore Katie Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) put the Boilermakers on the board with a two-run shot to left in the third. The dinger, Mitchell's 11th of the season, plated senior Catherine Zaworski (Prospect Heights, Ill.), who drew a leadoff walk.
The Jaguars left two stranded in scoring position in the bottom of the third. IUPUI also left a runner on third in the fourth inning.
Mitchell sent a ground-rule double down the left field line in the fifth. Junior Ashley Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) followed with a single to the pitcher, but a fielder's choice and ground out kept the team from adding to its lead.
The Boilermakers tacked on three more runs in the sixth on a pair of long balls. Sophomore Alicia Spack (West Lafayette, Ind.) launched a solo shot to center. Freshman Ashley Barr (Meridian, Idaho) followed with a single to left, then scored on a senior Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) two-run dinger to right. The Jaguars replaced pitcher Breanna Howell on the mound following the home runs.
Hall, a lefty slap hitter, capped the scoring with the first home run of her career, a leadoff shot to center field.
Mitchell, Hall and Spack each posted two of the team's 10 hits, while senior Brooke Baker (Schererville, Ind.) struck out three in a complete-game effort on the mound. Howell (5-12) was saddled with the loss.
Purdue looks to move to .500 on the season in Game 2 of the twin bill.