Purdue Fort Wayne
Centenary (LA)
Mastodons Complete Weekend Shutout Sweep over Centenary
3/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 27, 2010
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score | Photo Gallery 
Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW Mastodon pitching staff came out in full force against the Ladies of Centenary, allowing just four hits in 65 total at-bats (for a .062 Centenary batting average over the weekend), as the ‘Dons finished the sweep of the Ladies with an 8-0 six-inning win in the opener, and a 3-0 victory in the nightcap.
With the wins, IPFW improves to 16-10 on the season, and 8-1 in the Summit League. The conference mark puts the ‘Dons in a tie for second place in the league standings, as the Mastodons and the South Dakota State Jackrabbits each have just one conference loss, with preseason favorite Western Illinois currently undefeated in conference play.
“Our pitching staff was on fire,” said IPFW head coach Amy Tudor. “We got ahead in the count, and took care of business when we needed to. Our outfield also played extremely well backing up the pitching staff. I wasn’t overly impressed with our hitting, but we got the job done. Different people come up big in different situations, and that is what makes our team special – there are a lot of different players who are the heroes of the game. It’s nice to not have to rely on one person to get wins. It was a good overall team effort for this weekend.”
After pitching a seven-inning one-hitter the night before, sophomore Courtney Cronin threw another one-hitter, this one over six innings, while striking out seven, walking two, and hitting a batter. The lone hit came with one out in the first inning when Bonnie Matak singled into left field. After a groundout moved Matak to second, she was thrown out at third base attempting to steal.
IPFW, after struggling to score in the opener, jumped out quickly in the middle game of the series and used a pair of walks and a single to load the bases with just one out. Cronin helped her own cause with a single to left-center field, chasing home Kristina Karpun and Cassie Wolfe, as Sara Hopwood scored on a Stacey Swinford single to center field, staking the ‘Dons to a quick 3-0 advantage.
An infield single by Hopwood in the second inning scored Rachel Staschuk, pushing IPFW to a 4-0 lead through two frames.
Centenary (8-18, 2-7 Summit) threatened in the top of the third inning when Sara Dornelas and Kelsey Regan each reached on fielding errors, before a one-out walk loaded the bases. A pair of strikeouts by Cronin, however, ended the threat, keeping the shutout alive.
A walk and a hit batter would be all that Centenary would put on base the rest of the way, as the ‘Dons scored once in the fourth, again in the fifth, and then added two more in the bottom of the sixth to give the game its’ eight-run lead to give IPFW a mercy-rule victory on a Staschuk two-run single.
The Mastodons pounded out a season-high 11 hits in the game, two each from Staschuk, Karpun, Hopwood, Cronin, and Swinford, and one from Ava Hall. Staschuk and Cronin each drove in three, with Karpun and Swinford each scoring twice.
Lauren Highsmith picked up the loss, going one and two-thirds of an inning, allowing five earned runs and walking four. For the game, the Mastodons drew a season-high-tying nine walks.
For the weekend, Cronin faced the minimum three batters in an inning nine times of 13 innings pitched, striking out ten, and picking up her school-record seventh shutout of the season.
In the nightcap, Staschuk had a similar fate to Cronin, as the junior gave up a two-out first-inning hit to Allison Shepperd, and not allowing another hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning.
Wolfe opened the scoring for IPFW with a sacrifice fly to deep center field, scoring Staschuk. Two innings later Wolfe added to her RBI total when the sophomore hit a towering home run to center field, her fourth longball of the season, pushing the IPFW lead to 2-0.
In the fourth the Mastodons got their final run when Staschuk doubled to left-center field, chasing home Kaylee Faurote, and giving IPFW a 3-0 lead. Two walks, a hit, and a fielding error would be all that Staschuk would allow to reach base after the first-inning single, with no Centenary baserunner getting to second in the shutout victory.
Staschuk struck out eight, and walked two, scattering the two hits, tying her career best for fewest hits allowed in a seven-inning game, as she also allowed two hits in a game last season – also on March 27 – against IUPUI.
Each of IPFW’s six hits came from a different player, with Wolfe driving in a pair. Sara Dornelas was the pitcher of record for the Ladies, striking out four over four and a third inning of work, walking four and hitting one batter.
The weekend ended an eight-game IPFW homestand, in which they went 7-1. The ‘Dons will next travel to Fargo, North Dakota, where they will take on Summit League foe North Dakota State in a three-game series, on April 2 and 3.
~Dons~
