Strong Pitching and Timely Hitting Lead Mastodons to Sweep of Butler

Wednesday, March 30

Fort Wayne, Ind.

3:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

12-8-1

Butler

13-10

Butler

IPFW

Kristina Karpun is shown here hitting her solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning

Strong Pitching and Timely Hitting Lead Mastodons to Sweep of Butler

3/30/2011 7:52:19 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GAME 1 BOX SCORE | GAME 2 BOX SCORE

Fort Wayne, IN - The IPFW Mastodons got a strong pitching effort from Courtney Cronin in the opener, and timely hitting in the afternoon finale, that helped the 'Dons take the series sweep against Butler University by scores of 3-1 and 10-7.

Cassie Wolfe and Sara Hopwood each went 3-for-5 on the day for the 'Dons, while Sarah Swanson was 3-for-6. Hopwood and Karpun each drove in a pair, while Wolfe scored three times. Cronin and Amanda Olender picked up the wins for IPFW, while Megan Flenniken got a save, the first of the season for the Mastodons, in the nightcap.

The wins improve IPFW's record to 13-8-1 on the season, as the squad next heads to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, with a three-game Summit League series against the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University, the team that IPFW eliminated from last season's Summit League Tournament.

The first game was a pitcher's duel, with Cronin going head-to-head with Butler's Breanna Fisher, as neither pitcher allowed a run through the first five innings of the contest. In the top of the sixth inning, the Bulldogs took to the scoreboard first with an RBI single from Lauren McNulty that chased home Meaghan Sullivan.

Trailing for the first time in the game, IPFW had the bases loaded with two outs when Cronin hit a ground ball to the Butler third baseman, whose throw was off the mark sending the ball to the field barrier fence, and allowed Ashley Bousquet, Kristina Karpun, and Kaylee Faurote to each score and give the Mastodons a 3-1 advantage on a trio of unearned runs.

The Bulldogs would get just a solitary single in the bottom of the seventh, as IPFW held on for the 3-1 victory.

Swanson was 2-for-3 in the game, as IPFW totaled four hits over the six innings. Cronin improved to 9-6 on the season pitching the entire seven innings, striking out seven, scattering four hits and walking one.

As much as the first game was a pitcher's duel, the second was an offensive slugfest that saw one of the two teams score in six of the seven innings of the game.

Butler struck first with two runs in the top of the first inning before IPFW retaliated with two of their own in the bottom half of the frame, when Swanson reached on a fielding error by the Bulldog third baseman, stole second, and then scored on a double to left field by Wolfe. After a strikeout, Wolfe scored when the Butler right fielder dropped a pop-up near the warning track, knotting the score at two runs apiece.

The Bulldogs re-took the lead in the top of the second when Sullivan singled through the right side, scoring Krista Kakola. Two half-innings went by without a run, before Hopwood singled to drive home pinch-runner Kirsten Rohn and Wolfe, pushing the 'Dons to a 4-3 lead.

After Butler added three more runs in the top of the fourth, the team's offenses went cold for the next two full innings, before the IPFW offense came through in the sixth inning, as the frame started with a solo home run from Karpun, the 22nd longball of her career, tying her for 10th in the Summit League career record books.

Trailing now by just one at 6-5, and with two outs on the board, the Mastodons strung together seven consecutive batters that reached base either by base hit or walk, scoring five more times, with the string of runs capped off with by a double by Karpun that scored Hopwood.

After the dust had cleared, IPFW found themselves ahead by four 10-6, until Butler got a solo home run from Erin Falkenberry in the top of the seventh, setting the stage for Flenniken to pick up the first save in her young IPFW career.

IPFW's 13 hits in the nightcap are a season-high, as they came from nine different batters. Three players, Rachel Staschuk, Wolfe, Hopwood, and Karpun each had multiple hits on the day, as Wolfe scored three times, and Swanson twice.

Staschuk started the game and pitched the first two and one-third of an inning before taking a line drive off the arm, as Amanda Olender came to pitch in relief. Olender went the next four innings, striking out six and scattering two hits, allowing just one earned run in improving her record to 2-0 on the season. Flenniken pitched the final two-thirds of an inning, striking out one and walking one.

~Dons~