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 Youngstown State's Jamie Fornal went 3-for-3 in game one against Akron. |
Softball Roundup - March 26
March 27, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Valparaiso, Wright State and Youngstown State each split its respective doubleheaders on Wednesday. Other League action saw Butler drop a pair of games and Loyola fall in its home opener.
Purdue 5, Butler 3 - Game One
Purdue 7, Butler 0 - Game Two
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Junior Katie Mitchell had four hits and drove in eight runs to lead visiting Purdue to back-to-back wins over Butler in a non-league doubleheader played at the Butler Softball Diamond on Wednesday (March 26). The Boilermakers rallied for a 5-3 come-from-behind win in the opener and then cruised to a 7-0 decision in the nightcap.
Mitchell provided the offensive punch for Purdue (21-8) in both wins with four hits in seven trips to the plate, including two doubles and two home runs. She added four runs scored, and she recorded the game-winning hit in each of the two contests.
Butler (10-11) appeared headed for its first victory over Purdue in the past 13 meetings in the opener. The Bulldogs, behind the strong pitching performance of sophomore Kristen Malinkey, had a 3-1 lead with two outs in the seventh inning. But Mitchell dashed Butler's hopes with a bases-loaded double that gave the visitors a 4-3 advantage. Mitchell later scored the fifth Boilermaker run on a single by Ashley Hall.
The Bulldogs had taken a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a solo home run by junior Alex Boros. It was her third home run of the season. Butler then broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning when junior Annie Dolan scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, junior Lindsay Schluge delivered a run-scoring single.
Malinkey, who gave up a solo home run to Kelsey Haupert in the second inning, blanked the Boilermakers for four straight innings, before the seventh-inning rally. She was nicked for eight hits and gave up just one earned run in the game.
In the second game, pitchers Suzie Rzegocki and Ashley DiDomenico combined to shutout the Bulldogs on five hits. Mitchell hit a pair of home runs in the game and drove in five of Purdue's seven runs. Senior Amy Hyerczyk had a pair of hits for the Bulldogs.
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Game One Box Score
Bradley 5, Loyola 4
CHICAGO, Ill. - Loyola University Chicago (6-12) dropped a back-and-forth, 5-4 decision to Bradley (10-9) this evening at Loyola Softball Park in the Ramblers' 2008 home opener. Eight Ramblers recorded hits in the game, including a pair of home runs on a cool spring evening.
Bradley jumped on the board in the top of the first inning thanks to Amanda Clack's run-scoring single. That lead would be short-lived however, as Loyola stormed back in the bottom of the second and posted a pair of runs and take a 2-1 lead. Freshman Jenna Grim belted her second homer of the season, a solo shot, over the fence in left field to tie that game at 1-1. One out later, Lindsay O'Gean reached on a single, stole second and scored on Bridget Lally's single to center.
The Braves countered with two runs of their own in the top of the third to reclaim the lead, but Loyola stole momentum right back in the bottom half of the inning and tied the game at 3-3 on Nora Schober's seeing-eye RBI single down the right field line.
Kat Krause belted her team-leading fourth home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning to give the Ramblers a 4-3 advantage. Bradley would not go quietly, and Jacqueline's Vitale's two-out single to right field tied the game in the top of the fifth.
The game remained deadlocked until the seventh inning when Lauren Meister delivered a single up the middle that was just out of the reach of a diving Lally, to give the Braves a 5-4 edge and winning pitcher Ashley Birdsong retired the Ramblers in order in the bottom of the seventh to earn her eighth victory of the year.
Seven Ramblers had hits on the day, including O'Gean, who went 2 for 3.
Central Michigan 4, Valparaiso 3 - Game One
Valparaiso 8, Central Michigan 6 - Game Two
Valparaiso's offense carried the day Wednesday as the Crusaders split a doubleheader at Central Michigan, dropping the opener, 4-3, before rebounding for a win in the nightcap, 8-6.
The Crusaders were behind 3-0 in the opener heading into the seventh inning, as Central Michigan put one run on the board in the first and two in the fifth. But Valpo took advantage of a pair of Chippewa errors to help score three runs of its own in the final frame. Karen Korb scored Valpo's first run of the game on the second CMU error of the frame, and Ashley Wolter followed with an RBI single to plate Tracy Korth to cut the deficit to one.
Shannon Robinson came home on an RBI groundout by Whitney Warner to knot up the game at three. But Central Michigan quickly ended the game in the bottom half of the seventh, loading the bases with no outs to set the stage for a walkoff single by Christina Novak.
Jill Jacobson took the loss in her 1.2 innings of relief work for the Crusaders, falling to 1-2 on the season. Central Michigan's Kim Campbell registered the final two outs in the seventh for her first decision of the season.
Valpo led the entire way in the nightcap, opening the scoring in the top of the first. Korb led off the game with a single, extending her hitting streak to nine games, and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Warner. The Crusaders extended their lead to 3-0 in the third, as Wolter drove in Korth with an RBI groundout and Kayla Grutz scored from second on the front end of a double steal.
Central Michigan put up single tallies in the third and fourth innings, but Valpo scored two more runs in the fifth to extend its lead to 5-2. A two-out single by Mallory Gill plated Robinson, and Gill would come around to score on an RBI double by Courtney LaFerle. The Chippewas responded with two runs in the bottom half of the frame to cut the lead back to 5-4.
But the Crusaders weren't done scoring, as Robinson drove in Korb with a single in the sixth inning. Later in the frame, Jamie Weinburger came home on a CMU error to make it 7-4, and Sadie Conner brought home Katie Williams in the seventh with an RBI double to give Valpo a four-run advantage. The Chippewas put two runs on the board in the last of the seventh, but Carrie Franson (Arlington, Wis./Poynette) induced a flyout to end the game.
Stephanie Kelly (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield) improved to 5-3 with the victory, going 4.2 innings in the circle for the Crusaders. Franson earned her first career save one day after picking up her first career win, striking out three batters in 2.1 innings of work. Kari Seddon fell to 2-6 on the year, taking the loss for Central Michigan (8-10).
Korb led the Crusader offensive attack on the day, going 4-for-9 with three runs scored and two stolen bases. Robinson used a 3-for-3 effort in the nightcap to go 4-for-6 on the day, while LaFerle chipped in three hits. Warner and Wolter each drove in two runs in the doubleheader.
Wright State 8, Ohio 0 - Game One
Ohio 9, Wright State 4 - Game Two
DAYTON, Ohio - The Wright State softball team split a doubleheader with Ohio Wednesday at the WSU Softball Field, the Raiders taking the opener 8-0 before falling 9-4 in the nightcap.
Game one was a pitcher's duel in the early going between the Raiders' Sharon Palma and Ohio's Michelle Sauter as the contest was scoreless heading into the bottom of the fifth. Wright State, though, broke through in that inning as after Briauna Birl walked with one out and Michelle Logan singled to right center, Jamie Perkins drove the first pitch she saw over the fence in right center for a three-run home run, her third of the season.
The Raiders then forced the run-rule an inning later by scoring five times. Logan drove in the first run with a hit and after two more came in on an error and a wild pitch, a two-run single to right by Jherica Williams plated the final two runs to end the game.
Palma (5-4) picked up the complete-game shutout win, allowing just four hits while striking out two. Offensively, the Raiders were led by Allison Cox, who went three-for-three with two doubles while Williams and Logan each had two hits.
Ohio (10-9) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game two on a grand slam from Melissa Bonner, but Wright State cut the deficit in half in the third on a Logan two-run home run to right center, her first of the year.
The Bobcats answered with a run in the top of the fourth to go up 5-2, but the Raiders responded in the bottom of the frame with a run on a RBI single from Birl and had the potential tying runs in scoring position before a strikeout ended the inning.
Ohio, however, broke the game open in the fifth with four more runs and maintained that advantage until Jacqueline Macy had a solo home run to left in the seventh, her second of the season.
Kristen Bradshaw, Cox and Birl each had two hits to pace the Raider offense in game two.
Youngstown State 8, Akron 0 - Game One
Youngstown State 8, Akron 7 - Game Two
DAYTON, Ohio - Sophomore Danielle Chase fired a two-hit, complete game shutout with five strikeouts and the Penguins offense banged out 12 hits to lead the Youngstown State softball team to an 8-0 win over Akron on Wednesday afternoon at Lee Jackson Field. In the nightcap, the Guins posted 10 hits but dropped an 8-7 decision to the Zips.
In the opener, senior Jamie Fornal went 3-for-3 with two runs scored while Bethany Hafley drilled two doubles and drove in three runs and McKenzie Bedra was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and belted a two-run home run.
Sophomore Kristin Bair, who went 2-for-3, tripled and scored on a throwing error to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Bedra reached on a fielder's choice and scored on Fornal's double to put the Guins up 2-0.
Youngstown State scored three in the top of the third - two on a double by Hafley and one on Becky Hibner's sacrifice fly - and three more in the top of the fourth.
In the fourth inning, Katy Potokar was hit by a pitch and scored on Bedra's third home run of the season. Fornal followed with a single and scored on Halfey's second two-bagger.
In the nightcap, Youngstown State squandered a four-run lead and Lisa McLean's two-out triple to right-center field in the bottom of the seventh inning scored Jenn Stottlemeyer to give the Zips an 8-7 victory. Bair went 2-for-4 with a double and a run batted in while Hibner drove in two runs and went 2-for-3 with a double.