Boilers open Big Ten season with two wins, losses

Flawless defense helps Purdue beat Wisconsin Sunday

Sophomore Andrea Roush hit her first collegiate home run as Purdue posted its 15th shutout of the season in a 1-0 win over Wisconsin Sunday at the Purdue Varsity Softball Complex.

Roush's home run came on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning and cleared the fence just to the left of the 220 sign in center field.

"That pitch was unusual for me," said Roush. "I usually always watch the first pitch go by, whether it's a ball or a strike. But that one just looked good and I decided to swing."

"We had runners in scoring position all day, so it's amazing that that one run held on the whole way, to give us the win, but I'm glad it did," she said.

Thanks to Roush's homer, Purdue (25-10-1, 2-2 Big Ten) finished the opening weekend of Big Ten play with a 2-2 record.

But the home run wasn't the key to the game, coach Carol Bruggeman said.

"Today we played with flawless defense," Bruggeman said Sunday. "We had runners in scoring position six out of the seven innings and it was just a really great team win."

Junior Meagan Dooley started her 10th game of the season and pitched 5 1/3 innings for her fifth shared shutout to improve her personal record to 8-2. Dooley allowed five hits, walked two and struck out two, facing 22 batters. Sophomore Leighann Burke, a lefty, pitched 1 2/3 innings and faced five batters with one hit, no walks and one strikeout.

The Badgers (20-13, 3-1 Big Ten) threatened in the sixth with runners at first and second with no outs. But Purdue center fielder Lynne Tortorelli gunned down Wisconsin's Sarah Lippert at home plate.

On Saturday Purdue fell to 3-1 Wisconsin in nine innings. College softball games are usually seven innings.

Neither the Boilermakers, nor the Badgers scored early in the contest. Behind Burke's pitching, Purdue held Wisconsin to a one-hit game until the top of the fifth. Wisconsin scored later in the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, Tortorelli doubled to left field to score shortstop Katie Crabtree and tie the game 1-1.

The Badgers scored two in the top of the ninth inning to take the win. The bottom of the ninth wasn't able to produce runs for the Boilermakers, despite tallying one hit to the shortstop by Crabtree.

"Softball is a game of timing," said Tortorelli. "Unfortunately, we didn't hit the ball with our runners on second and third like we should have. But that's one of the things that we're working on as a team. Coach (Bruggeman) always tells us that you can't win or lose the Big Ten in a single day, and this loss today just makes us realize that that's all the more true."

On Friday Purdue split a doubleheader with Minnesota at home.

The Boilermakers defeated the Gophers 10-0 in the first game with three home runs, but fell 5-0 in the second game.

"Our day is described by both phenomenal and awful," said Bruggeman. "In the first game today, we played the best game we've played all season. And then we turned around and played the worst game we've played all season."

Sophomore first baseman Heidi Foster hit a three-run home run and designated hitter Sara Hall followed that with a solo shot in the third inning of Game 1. Foster capped the scoring with another home run in the fifth.

In the second game, the Boilermakers had six errors in the 5-0 loss to Minnesota, including a gaffe in the first inning for two runs and three in the sixth inning for three runs.

"I can't remember the last time we've ever had six errors in a game," Bruggeman said. "This year the Big Ten is going to be won by the most consistent team for six weeks. We have to find that consistency."

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