Purdue Fort Wayne
Eastern Michigan
Karpun Becomes All-Time Home Run Leader as `Dons Split With Eagles
4/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
April 28, 2010
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
Ypsilanti, MI – IPFW junior Kristina Karpun became the career leader in home runs, while smashing the single season RBI record, as she hit three home runs and drove in seven runs over a double header against Eastern Michigan University, splitting a double header with the Eagles, falling in the first 9-7 and winning the second 4-0.
Karpun now has 17 career home runs, three more than the previous record of 14. Her 35 RBI’s this season are also six more than the previous single season school record.
The win was the 24th of the season for IPFW (24-16), tying the single-season record for wins in a season, knotting them with the 1994 team that went 24-19-1.
In the opener the Mastodons threatened in each of the first two innings but came up empty, and the visitors found themselves in a 4-0 hole as the hosts scored two runs in both the first and second innings.
The ‘Dons finally reached the scoreboard in the top of the third inning when Stacey Swinford and Ava Hall hit back-to-back RBI singles, scoring Karpun and Courtney Cronin, respectively, cutting the deficit in half at 4-2.
An inning later, a Karpun two-run home run, her first longball of the day, tied the game at four apiece, as she drove in herself and Sara Hopwood. The tie score wouldn’t last long, however, as Eastern Michigan scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning to re-take their lead.
After a scoreless fifth inning, it was another Karpun two-run home run that gave IPFW its first lead of the day, at 6-5. The Eagles would once again answer quickly, using a four-run inning to push ahead to a 9-6 lead. A Courtney Cronin leadoff home run in the top of the seventh would be all that the ‘Dons would score, as the team fell 9-7 to their foes from the Mid-American Conference.
Three players, Hopwood, Karpun, and Hall, had two hits in the game, with Karpun driving in four, and scoring three times.
Amanda Olender picked up the loss in relief, pitching three and a third inning, striking out two and allowing two earned runs, while starter Courtney Cronin went two and two-thirds of an inning, striking out three, and giving up four earned runs.
The nightcap was a much different story for IPFW, as after giving up four runs in the first two innings, starting pitcher Rachel Staschuk held the Eagles scoreless for her third shutout of the season, striking out nine over seven innings of work, while scattering four hits and walking none.
IPFW reached the board first in the top of the second inning, when Karpun hit her third and final home run of the day, scoring herself, Hall, and Amber Pierce, pushing IPFW to a 3-0 lead.
That three-run lead would stand until the ‘Dons tacked on a fourth run when Swinford drew a one-out walk, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch that the Eagle catcher and pitcher would not find. Cassie Wolfe then followed with a sacrifice squeeze bunt that scored Swinford, and gave the game its 4-0 final score.
Karpun and Cronin each had two hits in the game, with Karpun driving in three and scoring once.
The Mastodons return to action at 4:00 PM on Friday, April 30, when the team travels south to Indianapolis, Indiana, to take on the Jaguars of IUPUI in their final conference series of the regular season.
~Dons~
