Miscues cost the Valparaiso softball team in both ends of a doubleheader
Thursday in West Lafayette,
Ind., as the Crusaders fell to
Purdue, 5-3 in the opener and 9-0 in the nightcap.
The Boilermakers got the
scoring started in the opener right away as Liane Horiuchi led off with a walk
and proceeded to steal second and third.
Molly Garst followed with a walk and in the same motion took off for second. Crusader pitcher Alex Lagesse (Beecher,
Ill./Beecher), who had received
the throw back to the circle, wheeled to try to catch Horiuchi off of third,
but her attempt was errant, allowing Horiuchi to score and Garst to advance to
third. Garst would come home on an RBI
single one batter later to give Purdue a 2-0 lead after one inning.
But the Crusaders
counter-punched immediately in the top of the second, putting together a
two-out rally. Tori Brown (Harrison, Ohio/Harrison) got it started with a single to
right-center, and Jessie Marinec (Alsip, Ill./Marist)
followed with a walk to put two runners on for Lisa DeBruzzi (Carlisle, Mass./Concord-Carlisle). The junior unloaded on a 1-0 pitch to left
field for her third home run of the season and second in the last three days,
putting Valpo on top 3-2.
Lagesse kept Purdue off
the scoreboard until the fourth inning, when a two-out triple brought home the
tying run. Then, after two were out in
the fifth, miscues cost the Crusaders again, as a catcher’s interference call,
a hit batsman and an infield single loaded the bases, and another catcher’s
interference stoppage plated the go-ahead run for Purdue. The Boilermakers added an insurance tally in
the sixth on a fielding error by Valpo, and while the Crusaders brought the
go-ahead run to the plate in the top of the seventh with one out, they were
unable to push anything more across the plate.
Lagesse took the loss for
Valpo, falling to 11-4 on the year after giving up four runs (three earned) on
six hits in 4.2 innings of work. Suzie
Rzegocki registered the complete-game win for the Boilermakers, allowing just
four hits while striking out eight.
The nightcap saw the
Crusaders strand seven runners on base, including at least one in scoring
position in four of the five innings, while they were unable to push a run
across the plate. Meanwhile, Purdue took
advantage of four Valpo errors to score four unearned runs in the second game
and the Boilermakers scored four runs in the bottom of the fifth, including a
game-ending three-run homer by Shelby Krammer, to end the game via run rule.
Sam McGee (Bloomington, Minn./Jefferson) took the loss for Valpo in the nightcap,
giving up four runs in 3.1 innings in the circle, but just one of the four
tallies was of the earned variety.
Rzegocki earned her second complete-game win of the day for Purdue
(19-21), improving to 15-16 while scattering five Crusader hits in her five
innings of work.
Valparaiso (26-10) will look to rebound in its return to
Horizon League play on Saturday afternoon, as the Crusaders make the short trip
west into the Second
City to take on UIC. First pitch of the twinbill is slated for 1
p.m., and live stats and live chat for both games will be available at www.valpoathletics.com.