Purdue Fort Wayne
Winthrop
Olender No-Hitter Highlights Finale at Winthrop Early Bird Tournament
2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 28, 2010
Winthrop Box Score | Morgan State Box Score
Rock Hill, SC - Junior pitcher Amanda Olender threw the first no-hitter in IPFW's Division I era, blanking the Morgan State Bears 9-0 in the nightcap of the Winthrop Early Bird Tournament on Sunday, as IPFW (5-3) did not allow a run over the entire weekend, also blanking host Winthrop to open the day by a 3-0 score.
Olender (1-1) walked one while hitting a batter for the only base runners allowed in the game. The junior also struck out nine of the 15 batters she faced in the game for her third career shutout.
In the final day opener against Winthrop (6-5), Courtney Cronin (3-2) threw her second consecutive shutout against the Eagles, and the third overall this season, striking out four in seven innings and giving up just four hits.
The Mastodons wasted little time in jumping on the Eagles of Winthrop, as Rachel Staschuk singled up the middle to score Amber Pierce, giving IPFW a 1-0 lead.
The Eagles threatened in the bottom of the second inning when the first two batters walked; however, a pair of pop-ups and a groundout to shortstop ended the Winthrop threat. The hosts again put runners on first and second in the bottom of the fifth inning, but again could not move them across the plate.
The game remained a one-run battle until the top of the sixth inning when Sara Hopwood and Kristina Karpun got back-to-back base hits, and Staschuk walked to load the bases with no outs. A force out at home, and a strikeout, put the `Dons in jeopardy of not scoring, before Stacey Swinford hit an infield single, scoring Karpun.
The Mastodons added an insurance run in the top of the seventh when Karpun singled home Swanson, giving the `Dons a 3-0 lead. Winthrop would only manage a solitary hit in the bottom of the seventh, giving IPFW its fourth shutout of the season.
Swanson and Karpun were each 2-for-4 in the game, with Amber Pierce, Hopwood, Staschuk and Swinford picking up the team's other eight hits. Each of the teams three runs and RBI's were driven in by different players.
In the weekend finale, the Mastodons scored in four of the five innings against Morgan State (4-6), and got things going in the first when Swanson singled through the right side, stole second base, and scored when Staschuk hit a three-run homer to right field, her first longball of the season, also scoring Hopwood, and pushing IPFW to a 3-0 lead.
In the second the `Dons got on the board when Swinford walked, stole second base, and was chased home on a double by Swanson.
The Mastodons opened the third inning with back-to-back home runs from Hopwood and Karpun, the second from each this season, before being held scoreless in the fourth inning for the first time in the game.
Hopwood and Karpun opened the fifth inning with back-to-back hits, before Staschuk walked to load the bases with no outs. The runners advanced, and Hopwood scored, on a wild pitch before Olender helped her own cause with a two-run double to right center, scoring Staschuk and Karpun, and giving the `Dons the eight run margin necessary to end the game after five innings.
Olender put the Bears down in order in the bottom of the fifth with a strikeout, an infield popup, and a strikeout, etching her name in the school's record book.
Three players; Swanson, Hopwood, and Karpun, each had two hits, Hopwood's coming in two at-bats, and Karpun and Swanson's in three. Staschuk led the team with three RBI's, with Olender driving home a pair, as Hopwood also scored a team-leading three times.
The Mastodons return to action when they travel to Morehead, Kentucky, to compete in the Morehead State Comfort Inn Softball Classic, where they will face off against Morehead State, Georgetown (KY), Oakland, and Pittsburgh.
~Dons~
