April 27, 2007
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Boilermaker softball team led Ohio State 5-0 after two innings, but could not hold off a Buckeye comeback. Junior Ashley Hall added her second career home run, while sophomore Katie Mitchell boosted her single-season record tally to 14 in the 7-5 loss.
Purdue wasted no time jumping on the Buckeyes, putting up three runs on three hits in the opening stanza. Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) put the Boilermakers on the board with a solo home run to left center, her second of the year. Freshman Kelsey Haupert (Olympia, Wash.) hit a two-out single up the middle. Senior DaQueta Johnson (Ontario, Calif.) doubled off the base of the wall in right field, driving Haupert, before scoring herself on an errant throw home by the second baseman.
The Boilermakers added two more runs on a hit in the second. Sophomore Kelly Miller (Indianapolis, Ind.) was hit by a pitch with two outs. Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) followed with a towering home run over the wall in left center to make it 5-0
Ohio State scored four runs on four hits and two Purdue miscues in the bottom of the third. A single and a throwing error gave OSU a runner in scoring position. A fielding error by the shortstop put runners at first and third. A sacrifice fly put the Buckeyes on the board. An infield single and a pair of doubles accounted for the other three runs.
Freshman Ashley Barr (Meridian, Idaho) led off the fourth inning with a single through the right side and went to third on a pair of sacrifices, but was left stranded by a strikeout. Jamee Juarez took over in the circle for starting pitcher Kim Reeder to face the final batter of the inning.
Hall tallied her second hit of the game with an infield single to start the fifth. She went to second as the second baseman's throw to first sailed into the Purdue dugout. A sacrifice pushed her to third, but a pair of strikeouts kept the Boilermakers from adding to their lead.
The Buckeyes took the lead with three runs on three hits in the fifth. A fielder's choice and a single gave OSU runners at second and third. A double to center tied the score and a single to short center gave the Buckeyes the lead. Juarez then laid down the squeeze bunt to make it 7-5 Ohio State. A ground out and fly out ended the inning.
Barr tallied a one-out infield single in the sixth and went to second on a sacrifice, but could not make it around to score.
The Boilermakers went down in order in the seventh on a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to cap the Ohio State win.
Purdue scored five runs on seven hits and two OSU errors, while allowing the Buckeyes seven runs on nine hits and two errors. Hall and Barr led the Boilermakers bats with two hits apiece.
Juarez (14-8) earned the win for Ohio State, silencing the Boilermakers in three innings of relief. Senior Brooke Baker (Schererville, Ind.) struck out two in the complete game effort for Purdue.
The Boilermakers will get another crack at the Buckeyes at noon Saturday when the teams meet again at Buckeye Field.