Pair of Staschuk Homers Sends IPFW to Top of Summit

Saturday, April 16

Shreveport, La.

1:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

23-10-1, 0

Centenary (LA)

4-29, 0

IPFW

Centenary

Rachel Staschuk recorded her first career multiple home run game as IPFW took the series finale against Centenary

Pair of Staschuk Homers Sends IPFW to Top of Summit

4/16/2011 6:05:57 PM | Softball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Shreveport, LA - Behind a pair of home runs by Rachel Staschuk, the IPFW Mastodons swept the season series from the Centenary Ladies with a 10-2 win on Saturday afternoon. With the win, IPFW improves to 23-10-1 on the season and 13-5 in league play, the latter of which puts the Mastodons in sole possession of first place in the league standings.

IPFW, at 13-5, now stand a game and a half up on Southern Utah and UMKC, who each end the weekend with identical 10-5 records. North Dakota State comes into its final game of the weekend on Sunday with a 9-5 record, while the Bison opponent, Western Illinois, is 9-8.

Staschuk was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three more driven in, while Courtney Cronin was 2-for-5 with three RBI's, while pitching her way to her second win of the series, striking out seven and scattering four hits.

The Mastodons struck first in the game when Sarah Swanson hit a one-out single, stole second base - the 33rd stolen base of her career which is tied for the school record, and was chased home on a double by Cronin a batter later.

In the third inning IPFW loaded the bases on a hit batter and a pair of walks, before Cronin scored Staschuk with a fielder's choice, as Swanson also scored on the play on a fielding error by the Ladies' second baseman.

Brittany Kachur singled in the fourth inning to score Cassie Wolfe, before Staschuk hit the first of her two home runs, pushing the Mastodons to a 6-0 advantage.

Centenary cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but a solo Staschuk home run in the sixth, and three runs from IPFW in the seventh, the first on a Cronin home run, the second on an Audrey Mintari sacrifice fly that scored Sara Hopwood, and the last when Kachur reached on a fielder's choice that scored Ashleigh Bousquet.

IPFW managed seven hits in 27 at-bats for the game, with Swanson, Amanda Olender, and Kachur picking up the team's other three. Swanson scored twice in the win.

Lauren Highsmith picked up her third pitching loss in the series, going the first three and two-thirds of an inning, striking out one and walking three.

The Mastodons return to action with a home series on Tuesday against the Chippewas of Central Michigan University in a rescheduling of a rain-postponed game earlier in the season. First pitch for the games is slated for 2:00 PM EST at the IPFW Softball Field

~Dons~