Purdue Fort Wayne
Pittsburgh
Mastodons Drop Pair in Kentucky
3/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
March 7, 2010
Oakland Box Score | Pittsburgh Box Score
Morehead, KY – The IPFW Mastodons dropped a pair of games on Sunday afternoon at the Morehead State Comfort Inn Classic, falling 6-5 to Oakland in a non-conference game, and 5-2 to Pittsburgh.
In the opener, Oakland (5-13) jumped out with a run in the bottom of the first, before the Mastodons answered when Stacey Swinford hit a one-out home run down the left field line, knotting the game at one apiece.
The Grizzlies scored another run in the bottom of the third inning, and then put up four runs in the bottom of the fourth to open up a 6-1 lead.
After a scoreless fifth inning, IPFW reached the board twice in the sixth inning, as Kris Karpun singled and Sara Hopwood doubled to put runners at second and third with no outs. Karpun scored on a wild pitch a batter later, before Hopwood was chased home with a Cassie Wolfe double to left field, cutting the deficit to three at 6-3.
An inning later Swinford scored on a passed ball, before Karpun singled home Sarah Swanson, cutting the deficit to just one at 6-5; however, the Mastodons couldn’t squeeze another run across the plate, falling 6-5.
Karpun was 2-for-3 in the opener, scoring once and driving in another. Swinford went 1-for-1, scoring twice and driving in one on her solo home run. Rachel Staschuk (1-1) picked up the loss, pitching four innings and allowing three earned runs while striking out six and walking a pair. Hopwood came in for the final two innings in the circle, pitching a perfect two innings, while striking out one.
In the nightcap, Pittsburgh struck first with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, before IPFW closed the gap when Courtney Cronin chased home Staschuk with a single to left field, cutting the deficit in half.
In the top of the third inning, IPFW got three straight hits on a Hopwood double, a Sarah Swanson bunt single, and a Karpun double to knot the game at two apiece.
IPFW was unable to do any more than tie the score as the Panthers scored once in the bottom of the fourth, and two more times in the bottom of the fifth to give the game its 5-2 final score.
The Mastodons out-hit the Panthers 9-7 in the game, and were led by Cronin and Hopwood, who each had two hits in the game. Cronin picked up the loss in the circle, going the entire six innings and allowing just one earned run while striking out two and walking one.
The Mastodons return to action on Wednesday, March 10, when the team takes travels to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to face off against Southeast Missouri State in a one-game series.
~Dons~
