Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Softball Drops Conference Opener to Western Illinois
3/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 14, 2008
Macomb, IL-The IPFW Softball team debuted in the Summit League this afternoon, facing off with Western Illinois in double header action. The 'Dons dropped both games, falling to 4-10 on the year.
In game one, Western Illinois leadoff hitter Britt Mason set the tone for the Westerwinds hitting a homerun in Western's first at bat of the game. An IPFW error and a pair of hits by Colleen Biebel and Samantha Valentine gave Western a 3-0 lead heading into the second.
IPFW was unable to recover, giving up three more runs on a total of 8 hits and 5 errors in six defensive innings.
Offensively, the 'Dons went 3 for 24, securing one unearned run. Early in the fifth, center fielder Beatrice Pedraza reached third on a pair of Western errors. Left fielder Ty Lambert stepped to the plate and knocked a single to left field to bring Pedraza home and get IPFW on the board.
Western went on to defeat the 'Dons 6-1.
In game two action, IPFW drew first blood. Freshman catcher Kristina Karpun blasted one over the fence in the top of the second to put the 'Dons up 1-0. Karpun was 2 for 2 in the late game.
The IPFW lead was short lived, as Western Illinois answered back with 6 runs on 4 hits in the bottom of the second, taking a 6-1 lead going into the third.
IPFW took a 9-1 loss in game two giving up 8 hits while committing no errors.
Despite playing a clean game defensively, IPFW was unable to get the bats going. Overall, the women were just 3 of 19 in the game, 6 of 43 on the day.
The 'Dons will return to Summit League action tomorrow afternoon, facing Western Illinois in game three of the series. The first pitch is scheduled for noon (CT).
~Dons~
