Softball Heads for First Summit Road Series of Season

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - After seeing their first Summit League series canceled by snow, the IPFW Mastodons look to open their Summit League road season this weekend, as the squad travels to Vermillion, S.D. to take on the Coyotes of South Dakota.

Opponent: South Dakota Coyotes (25-12, 8-1 Summit League)
When: Friday, April 12, 2013 | 3 & 5 p.m.
Where: Vermillion, S.D. | Nygaard Field
All-Time Series: IPFW leads 3-1
Live Stats: South Dakota Gametracker

ABOUT IPFW
The IPFW Mastodons come into the weekend series against the Coyotes with an 18-8 record, having won four games in a row, and six of the last seven overall, including a sweep over Eastern Michigan University on Tuesday.

In that sweep of the Eagles, Alex Bousquet was 5-for-6 (.833) with four runs scored and two RBI's, and had a slugging percentage of 1.667 in the two games. Hillary Kartman was 4-for-7 (.571) with three RBI's, as Ashleigh Bousquet was 3-for-7 (.429). Miranda Kramer picked up a pair of victories in the pitching circle, finishing the day with a 2.33 ERA and nine strikeouts in six innings of work.

This season Larissa Franklin leads the team with a .435 batting average, while scoring 23 times in 26 games this season. Franklin also leads the team with 16 stolen bases. Ashleigh Bousquet bats .407 with a team-high 27 RBI's while scoring 18 times, as Dani Pugh bats .358 with 24 RBI's and 11 runs. Alex Bousquet also bats over .300 for the Mastodons, hitting .329 with a team-high 25 runs scored, and hitting four home runs with 16 RBI's.

The pitching staff is led by Kramer who is 11-4 on the season with a 2.13 ERA and 109 strikeouts in 82.0 innings of work including 10 complete games and three shutouts, as opponents bat just .216 against her. Megan Flenniken is 6-4 with a 2.67 ERA, while striking out 73 batters in 73.1 innings of work. She has eight complete games and two shutouts, one of which was a five-inning no-hitter.

ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA
The Coyotes come into the key Summit League battle having won 10-of-12, including a three-game sweep of South Dakota State, and are 25-12 this season

The Coyotes put three players above .300 batting for the year, with another four batting above .280. Yvon Minogue leads the team in batting at .417, while scoring 14 times and driving in 29 runs. Allie Daly leads the Summit League in home runs (10), and RBI's (45), while hitting .336, while Lindsey Boyd is batting .322 with 42 runs scored and 28 RBI's. Morgan Hancock (.297), Matley Jones (.295), Katie Dinning (.292), and Katie Cochran (.287) are also dangerously close to the .300 plateau.

Erica Denney has paced the Coyote pitching staff with a 2.28 ERA and a 14-4 overall record. She has 90 strikeouts in 135 innings with 17 complete games and a pair of shutouts. Missy Blackburn (4-1, 3.13 ERA) and Madison Frain (6-7, 3.89 ERA) have pitched in 38 and 62.2 innings, respectively this season for the Coyotes, Friain leading the pair with 72 strikeouts.

LAST TIME OUT
Big hitting in the opener, and clutch hits in the nightcap pushed IPFW to a doubleheader sweep of the Eastern Michigan Eagles on Tuesday afternoon 10-2 and 5-4, as Ashleigh Bousquet's RBI single in the first inning of the opener pushed her to the career record in the category.

Alex Bousquet was 5-for-6 on the day with four runs scored and two RBI's, while Hillary Kartman was 4-for-7, including the game-winning RBI in the finale.

Miranda Kramer picked up two wins in the circle on the day with a 2.33 ERA and nine strikeouts in six innings, while Megan Flenniken went seven innings, striking out seven and walking two.

LAST TIME VS. SOUTH DAKOTA
IPFW senior Courtney Cronin hit a first-inning grand slam, and then closed the door on the game from the pitching circle in the fifth to send the Mastodons to a three-game sweep of the South Dakota Coyotes by a 10-0 score in the Mastodons' 2012 home finale.

The Coyotes threatened in the top of the first inning when leadoff hitter Lindsey Boyd drew a walk, before stealing second base for her school-record-setting 31st stolen base of the season. After a strikeout, a groundout moved her to third before IPFW starter Megan Flenniken produced an inning-ending groundout to keep USD off of the board in the top of the first frame.

After getting the momentum from the defensive stand, the Mastodon offense erupted in its half of the first inning, as Larissa Franklin got the tide rolling in the bottom of the first with a walk and a stolen base, before a Brittany Kachur single put runners on the corners. Alex Bousquet drew her school-record 32nd walk of the year to load the bases, setting the table for her twin sister Ashleigh, who roped a single to right field to score Franklin and keep the bases loaded.

Cronin, in her first at-bat of her last home game in a Mastodon uniform, watched the first pitch for a ball, before hammering the 1-0 pitch over the wall in right-center field for the grand slam, giving IPFW a 5-0 lead before recording its first out of the contest. The next three 'Don batters wend down in order, keeping the score at 5-0 after one full inning.

Flenniken, after the back-to-back groundouts in the first inning, caught her stride, setting down the Coyotes in order in both the second and third innings, including striking out two in the third.

While the pitching was shutting down the opponent, the offense hits its stride again, as the 'Dons scored five runs for the second consecutive inning. Jess Haskins, after hammering two home runs in the series opener, drilled the second pitch she saw to the fence in right field for a double, before a Franklin single put runners on the corner to open an inning for the second straight frame. After a swinging strikeout, Alex Bousquet and Ashleigh Bousquet hit back-to-back RBI singles.

A walk to Cronin loaded the bases, as senior Cassie Wolfe followed with a patient walk to push home Alex Bousquet. Audrey Mintari followed with a two-run single to left field, giving the Mastodons a 10-0 advantage.

Neither team would score the rest of the way, with the Coyotes picking up their first hit of the game with one out in the third inning, before Flenniken was lifted heading into the bottom of the fifth to give Cronin her final appearance in the circle at the IPFW Softball Field, and she allowed just one hit and closed out the game by forcing a groundout to Ashleigh Bousquet at thrid base, giving IPFW its first Summit League series sweep since the opening league weekend of the season.

Cronin was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and four driven in, while Ashleigh Bousquet was 2-for-3. Franklin, and both of the Bousquet's each scored twice, while Ashleigh Bousquet and Mintari each drove in a pair. Flenniken improved to 11-6 on the season, scattering two hits over four innings while striking out five and walking one.

RECORD BREAKERS
This season the IPFW Mastodons have seen three career-record-breaking performances, with four others sitting at the top of career average categories.

Earlier this season junior shortstop Alex Bousquet broke the career runs scored record, as she now sits with 97 runs, 13 more than the previous record, while twin sister Ashleigh is right behind her in the list with 85 runs, more than the previous career record. Sophomore center fielder Larissa Franklin shortly after set the career stolen base record, and now has 43, eight more than the previous record of 35 held by Sarah Swanson (2008-11).

On Tuesday, IPFW junior third baseman Ashleigh Bousquet became the latest player to break a career record before their junior season, as she has driven in 109 batters over her two-plus seasons, breaking the record of 108 held by Kristina Karpun (2008-11).

Through a year and a half, Franklin sits atop of the school list in batting average (.387), with Ashleigh Bousquet not far behind (.373), as Ashleigh leads in slugging percentage with a career total of .579. On-base percentage has four current 'Dons lining the top four spots, with Alex Bousquet (.479), Ashleigh Bousquet (.469), Kayti Hanson (.435), and Larissa Franklin (.433) topping the previous mark of .430 held by Dawn Freeman (1986, 90-93).

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

Softball Heads for First Summit Road Series of Season

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