Purdue Fort Wayne
North Dakota State
NDSU Completes Sweep over Mastodons
4/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 25, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - The North Dakota State Bison scored five runs in the first two innings, and added three more in the seventh to capture the weekend series sweep over the IPFW Mastodons with an 8-1 victory on a windy Saturday afternoon.
North Dakota State (28-16, 15-3 Summit League) wasted no time in reaching the scoring column, as left fielder Elisa Victa walked, and was followed by a two-run home run by Melissa Chmielewski a batter later, giving the visitors a 2-0 lead, one that they would not give up for the remainder of the game.
IPFW (14-21, 9-10 Summit League) responded with a run of their own, as leadoff hitter Kaylee Faurote doubled, and was moved to third after a throwing error by the Bison third baseman. Cassie Wolfe followed by hitting a driving fly ball to left field that was caught; however, the ball was deep enough to easily score Faurote on the play.
Three more runs by the visitors gave NDSU a 5-1 lead, and the game looked like it would be a slugfest after a pitcher's duel a game earlier, but both teams' pitchers dug down, and over the next four innings of action, neither team would be able to score a run. The Bison added three insurance runs in the top of the seventh, giving the game its 8-1 final score.
IPFW's three hits came from three different batters, as Faurote and Beatrice Pedraza each doubled, and Sarah Swanson also added a single. Amanda Olender picked up the loss in the circle, pitching one and two-thirds of an inning, striking out two and giving up six hits and five runs. Courtney Cronin came in to pitch the final five and a third inning of relief, giving up eight hits and allowing three runs, two of which were earned.
Kim Westendorf picked up the win for NDSU, her second straight of the series, as she gave up three hits while allowing the one unearned run and striking out and walking one batter. Chmielewski was 3-for-4 with four runs driven in for the visitors, with shortstop Nicole Rivera going a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate.
The Mastodons take to the road on Tuesday, April 28, when they travel to northwest Indiana to take on the Crusaders of Valparaiso with a doubleheader slated to begin at 3:00 PM EST.
~Dons~
