Purdue Fort Wayne
Morehead State
Olender's Gem Helps Mastodons to Split
3/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 6, 2010
Morehead State Box | Georgetown College Box
Morehead, KY – IPFW junior Amanda Olender threw her second consecutive pitching gem, holding Georgetown College (KY) to just two hits and no runs over seven innings of work, as she has not allowed a run and just two hits over her last two appearances in the circle for the Mastodons, helping IPFW to the 4-0 win.
In the opener, the Mastodons (6-4) jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead when Sarah Swanson walked, and then stole second a batter later. She advanced to third on a groundout to second base by Sara Hopwood, and then scored on an error by the Eagle third baseman, giving IPFW the early advantage.
Morehead State (2-7) wasted little time in answering back, scoring three runs in both the bottom of the first and bottom of the second innings to take ahead to a 6-1 lead. After three straight scoreless innings, Morehead State scored three in the bottom of the sixth inning, to push the game to it’s eight-run-rule advantage, ending the game with a 9-1 score.
IPFW was held to just one hit in the game, and it was by Heather Genovese in the third inning. Courtney Cronin (3-3) was saddled with the loss, as she went 1.1 innings, giving up six runs, four earned, on five hits while walking three. Rachel Staschuk pitched the game’s final four innings for IPFW striking out three and allowing three earned runs.
In the nightcap, the Georgetown Tigers (3-8) threatened in the second inning with a walk and a single to open the inning, but a swinging strikeout, a fielder’s choice, and another swinging strikeout ended the threat in the frame. The Tigers put a runner on second base with two outs an inning later, but could not move her around, keeping the score at 0-0 halfway through the third inning.
Stacey Swinford opened the third inning with a bunt single before stealing second base. Genovese bunted Swinford to third, before Swanson reached on a bunt single, and stole second base to put two runners in scoring position. Amber Pierce followed by reaching on a fielder’s choice, loading the bases without a hit leaving the infield. After a strikeout, Sara Hopwood knocked a two-out single up the middle, scoring Swinford and Swanson, giving IPFW a 2-0 lead.
Olender faced the minimum amount of batters over the final four innings, hitting just one batter, who was thrown out trying to steal during the next at-bat. IPFW added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Hopwood hit her third longball of the season over the left-center field wall, scoring herself and Rachel Staschuk, giving the game its 4-0 final score.
Olender (2-1) struck out nine over the seven innings, allowing two hits, one walk and one hit batter. Hopwood went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and drove in all four of the team’s runs. Each of the team’s other five hits came from five different players.
The Mastodons stay in Morehead, Kentucky, for the final day of the Morehead State Comfort Inn Classic, where they will face off against Oakland University in the day opener at 9:00 AM, before playing against Pittsburgh at 12:30 PM to cap the IPFW stay at the Classic.
~Dons~
