Near-Perfect Performances Lead Mastodons to Sweep of Eagles

Tuesday, April 29

Ypsilanti, Mich.

3 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

34-13

Eastern Michigan

12-33

IPFW

Eastern Michigan

Near-Perfect Performances Lead Mastodons to Sweep of Eagles

4/29/2014 3:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GAME ONE BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.html)

GAME TWO BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.html)

YPSILANTI, Mich. - A near-perfect pitching performance from Miranda Kramer, and a near-perfect day at the plate from Larissa Franklin helped propel the IPFW Mastodons to a sweep of the Eastern Michigan Eagles, the Mastodons' second straight sweep of a Mid-American Conference opponent.

Franklin went 7-of-8 from the plate on the day, while Ashleigh Bousquet was 4-for-6 on the game. Kramer did not allow a baserunner until she had one out in the bottom of the fifth - the game's last inning - where she gave up a walk and a hit to back-to-back batters, before closing the door in the shutout victory.

Franklin's first seven hits came in her first seven at-bats of the day, and coupled with her 3-for-3 game against Bowling Green in the nightcap of last Wednesday's doubleheader, gave her 10 consecutive hits, tying for the sixth-longest such streak in NCAA Softball history.

The wins improve IPFW to 35-13 on the season, with only a three-game Summit League series against in-state foe IUPUI remaining on the 2014 Mastodon schedule.

In the opener, the Mastodons struck first in the top of the fourth inning when Ashleigh Bousquet reached on a fielding error before getting pushed to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hillary Kartman, and chased home on a single by Caitlyn DeLong. The floodgates opened later in the inning, when back-to-back walks loaded the bases, before Alex Bousquet singled down the right field line, scoring DeLong and Megan Flenniken. Franklin followed a batter later with her fourth home run of the season over the center field wall, scoring three more, and putting the Mastodons ahead 6-0 after four innings.

An inning later DeLong blasted a three-run home run scoring Ashleigh Bousquet and Kartman, giving the Mastodons a 9-0 advantage after four and a half innings.

Kramer's perfect game was snapped with a one-out walk, before her no-hitter attempt ended with a soft single to center field, also with one out; however, Kramer followed with back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat, and give the junior her 11th shutout of the season with 11 strikeouts.

Franklin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate in the opener, scoring once and driving in three - all on her home run to center field. Two others, DeLong was 2-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored, while Alex Bousquet went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Ashleigh Bousquet scored twice in going 1-for-2 at the plate.

Kramer gave up just the single hit, and walked one, striking out 11 of the 17 batters she faced in the game, improving to 17-8 on the year.

In the second game, IPFW struck first quickly in the game when Franklin hit a one-out double, before scoring in a single by Ashleigh Bousquet. Eastern Michigan quickly answered with a run in the bottom of the first, and taking their first lead of the day with another run in the bottom of the second inning.

A two-run home run by Dani Pugh in the top of the third inning gave the Mastodons the lead again at 3-2. The lead stayed until the bottom of the fifth inning where the Eagles pushed a run across the plate, knotting the score at three runs apiece.

IPFW quicly answered back with four runs in the top of the sixth, the first two runs coming on an Ashleigh Bousquet double that chased home her twin sister Alex and Franklin. Kartman added a double of her own to score Ashleigh Bousquet, before scoring on a single by Kelly Pevely.

Eastern Michigan grabbed a run in the bottom of the sixth, but went down 1-2-3 with relief pitcher Kaitlyn Biere in the bottom of the seventh, giving the freshman her first collegiate save.

Franklin was 4-for-5 in the nightcap, with Ashleigh Bousquet going 3-for-4 and Pevely 2-for-4.

Flenniken picked up the win, taking her record to 17-5, pitching the first six innings of the game, striking out six and giving up nine hits and four runs. Biere retired the final three batters for the save.

The Mastodons return to action on Friday, May 2, when the team travels to Indiananpolis to take on the IUPUI Jaguars in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

~ Feel the Rumble ~