March 29, 2012
VALPARAISO, Ind. - The Boilermaker softball team extended its win streak to four games with a nail-biter against Valparaiso on Thursday, which saw Purdue steal a 4-3 win. The Boilermakers led early, but had to plate two runs in the fourth to come back for the victory.
Purdue scored four runs on nine hits, while allowing the Crusaders three runs on eight hits and two errors. Senior Molly Garst led the Boilermaker bats with three hits, while junior Erika Petruzzi managed two.
Freshman Lexy Moore (13-2) struck out five batters in the complete game victory. Alex Lagesse (8-6) was saddled with the loss for Valparaiso, despite striking out three batters in six innings of work. Shaleigh Jansen threw the final inning for the Crusaders.
The Boilermakers wasted no time jumping on the scoreboard, putting together a pair of doubles to start the game with a score. Garst led off with a hit to the left center gap. The next batter, sophomore Andie Varsho, followed suit with another gapper to bring in the run. Purdue had runners at the corners after a single to left by sophomore Danielle Fletcher, but could not add any more runs.
Purdue tacked on another run in the third combining a hit, a steal and a sacrifice fly. Garst led off with a double and swiped third before coming home on sophomore Lindsey Rains' fly ball to left.
Valparaiso took the lead with a three-run homer by Jordan Rutkowski in the third. The long ball came after a pair of two-out singles.
The Boilermakers got the run back and regained the lead with a pair of runs in the fourth. Petruzzi singled to center field to give Purdue a runner. Freshman Ashley Burkhardt brought her home with a triple to right that got past a diving left fielder. A passed ball allowed Burkhardt to score, putting Purdue up 4-3.
Singles by Garst and Rains and a fielder's choice play put two on with one out in the fifth. A wild pitch advanced Rains and Varsho into scoring position, but a pair of ground outs kept the Boilermakers from adding to their lead.
Petruzzi singled and was sacrificed to second in the sixth, but Purdue couldn't push her home.
The Crusaders threatened in the sixth, putting two on with a single and a walk, but the Boilermaker defense turned a double play to get out of the stanza.
Purdue went down in order in the seventh to bring Valparaiso one final time. A single and an error gave the Crusders life in the inning. A ground ball put the runners in scoring position, but the Boilermakers forced a ground ball to the shortstop to cap the victory.
The Boilermakers (19-9) return to action at 1 p.m. Saturday when they take on Penn State in a doubleheader at the Varsity Softball Complex.