Purdue Fort Wayne
Southern Utah
Cronin's Two-Hitter Leads IPFW to 6-0 Win
3/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 18, 2010
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Fort Wayne, IN - In the 2010 home opener for IPFW, the hosts used an equal amount of pitching, power hitting, and small-ball, as the Mastodons toppled conference foe Southern Utah 6-0 in sophomore pitcher Courtney Cronin's fifth shutout of the season.
"We played well defensively," said IPFW head coach Amy Tudor. "We swung the bat decent at times. The bottom of our lineup came through for us today, and when the bottom of our lineup is hitting, we are going to win some ballgames."
Ava Hall had a stellar game, both at the plate and in the field, as she went 2-for-2 at the plate with an RBI, while also recording seven assists in the field, and started the team's second double play of the season to end the top half first inning of the game.
 Cassie Wolfe had the game-winning RBI with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning  |
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The aforementioned defensive play set the tone for the offense, as two batters after the line-out double play, Cassie Wolfe took the second pitch she saw, and hammered it over the left field wall, staking the Mastodons to a quick 1-0 lead.
The one run would be all that pitcher Cronin would need, as the sophomore scattered two hits and walked one, while retiring the last 11 players in order, in picking up her fifth shutout of the season, tying her own single-season school record in the process. She struck out seven, facing just 24 batters, three over the minimum in the game.
"Courtney threw very well," said the head coach. "She didn't throw a lot of pitches, and when she doesn't have to throw a lot of pitches, she is lights out. She got ahead and stayed ahead, and when you get ahead, pitching is a lot easier."
IPFW added an insurance run in the fourth inning when Hall singled into center field, chasing home Stacey Swinford, who drew a two-out walk before being moved to second when Kaylee Faurote was hit by the second pitch of her at-bat.
Another run in the fifth inning came when the Mastodons used small-ball to score a run without a base hit. Rachel Staschuk drew her team-leading 16th walk of the season, and Kaitlyn Frost, pinch-running for the junior, was moved along to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Wolfe. A fielding error advanced Frost to third, before Sara Hopwood perfectly executed a suicide squeeze, scoring Frost and giving the Mastodons a three-run advantage.
"Small-ball will be a part of the offense when needed," commented Tudor. "We have to have a little combination. It definitely is something I like to do - I like to be aggressive on the bases. Today the kids came around and put us in a place where we can make some coaching decisions and it turned out well."
Faurote scored in the seventh inning on a wild pitch, before Kristina Karpun drove in two on a single, her 19th and 20th RBI's of the season, putting the Mastodons ahead 6-0. A 1-2-3 seventh inning, including a strikeout by Cronin, pushed IPFW to a 3-1 record in the Summit League, and a 10-9 overall record, the first time the team has been above .500 this late in the season since the 1994 team finished the year 24-19-1.
"Every game for us is important, and every game is a battle," said Tudor. "There is no cruising for us, and every kid knows that - they understand that every pitch matters. That is our goal for the year - to make every inning count."
The Mastodons return to the field tomorrow in a double-header, starting at 3:00 PM against the same Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
~Dons~
