March 7, 2008
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Boilermaker softball team could not match the offensive barrage of the Missouri Tigers Friday afternoon, falling 9-4 in the team's second game of the Under Armour Invitational.
Missouri plated nine runs on 14 hits and five Purdue miscues, while the Boilermakers managed four runs on four hits and an error. Junior Katie Mitchell went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run, her first long ball of the season and the 18th of her career.
Stacy Delaney earned the victory for the Tigers, while Jen Bruck picked up the save after throwing the final three innings. Sophomore Suzie Rzegocki (4-2) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs in two plus innings of work. Juniors Dana Alcocer and Ashley DiDomenico also pitched in the contest. Alcocer took over two batters into the third inning and was relieved by DiDomenico with two outs in the fourth. The Boilermaker pitchers combined for four strikeouts.
The Tigers put up two runs on two hits and an error in the opening stanza. With runners at first and third, Missouri capitalized on a Boilermaker throwing error to score a run. A fielder's choice that ended in a close play at the plate accounted for the other.
The Boilermakers did not trail for long, however, plating three runs on two hits and an error in the bottom of the inning. Freshman Beth Cinadr led off with a ground rule double to right field. Sophomore Ashley Barr laid down a sacrifice, but was safe at first as the second baseman dropped the ball. Barr moved to second on the play as Cinadr headed for home, where she was tagged out. Junior Candace Curtis joined Barr with a walk, before Mitchell cleared the bases with a towering three-run shot over the left field fence.
Missouri regained the lead with a pair of runs on four hits and an error in the third. A pair of singles gave the Tigers base runners. An errant throw to third to prevent a steal allowed both runners to move into scoring position. Back to back singles then drove in the runs.
The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in the fourth. A strikeout accounted for the inning's first out, but a walk followed to score a run. An RBI single made it 6-3.
Purdue got one run back in the bottom of the fourth, combining two hits and a sacrifice. Mitchell led off with a single and was sacrificed over to second. Sophomore Kelsey Haupert picked up the RBI with a two-out single through the left side. A ground ball left Haupert stranded at inning's end.
The Boilermakers had runners at first and third with two outs in the fifth after a pair of walks and a wild pitch, but could not capitalize on the RBI opportunity as a fielder's choice ended the stanza.
Mizzou tacked on two more runs in the sixth, using a two-out single to left to drive in runners that were at second and third after a fielder's choice and a single.
A triple and a wild pitch in the seventh made it 9-4 in favor of the Tigers.
Purdue went down in order to wrap up the game.
The Boilermakers (12-6) were slated to return to action at 7:30 p.m. against Villanova, but storms in the area canceled the contest. Stay tuned to purduesports.com for updates to Purdue's schedule.