IU falls to Boilermakers

After losing three consecutive games to Purdue (19-22, 6-6 Big Ten) during the weekend, the IU softball team (19-23, 3-9 Big Ten) was swept for the first time ever at Andy Mohr Field and the second time in the team’s Big Ten schedule.

“I definitely think we were lacking in some areas,” senior infielder Amanda Wagner said. “We had defense show up one day and pitching not the other day, and our offense was lacking all weekend really. We were missing key components on certain days.”

The Boilermakers took control of the series from the start, topping the Hoosiers 7-2 in Friday’s matchup. Taking the early lead, Purdue scored one run in the top of the second inning and followed that with four runs in the third inning and one run in the fourth. The Hoosiers responded with a run brought in by a sacrifice fly by freshman catcher and third baseman Kelsey Dotson in the fourth inning.

This was followed by a run in the fifth driven in by freshman catcher and first baseman Kassi Farmer, but the effort was not enough to overcome the team’s 7-2 deficit. Junior pitcher Meaghan Murphy was dealt the loss for the Hoosiers, taking her to 12-12 on the season.

Play continued on Saturday, where the Boilermakers scored early once again, driving in six runs in the top of the fourth, followed by two runs in the top of the fifth.

Sophomore utility player Shannon Cawley drove in the Hoosiers’ lone run of the afternoon in the bottom of the sixth, but the Boilermakers closed out the game with one more run for the 9-1 win. Sophomore pitcher Lora Olson received the loss for the Hoosiers.

After Purdue jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the first and third innings in Sunday’s game, the Hoosiers put together a three-run third inning to take the lead at 3-2. However, the lead was short lived, with the Boilermakers tallying on three runs in the fourth inning and one each in the fifth and seventh innings to help them to the 7-3 win.

Wagner had her 16th multi-hit game of the season, extending her hitting streak to six games. Junior shortstop Shelby Gogreve had two hits in the matchup while driving in one run. Olson was dealt the loss, falling to 6-9 on the season.

“I thought that especially (Sunday) we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of heart,” Gogreve said. “We played hard and we did a lot of good things.”

Wagner led the IU offense on the weekend with five total hits. The Hoosiers posted a total of 22 hits on the weekend but were only able to make six total runs.

“Our hits are kind of sporadic,” IU Coach Michelle Gardner said. “Yes, we had a lot of hits, but we had hits with nobody on, and we just aren’t really necessarily putting hits together when we need to score runs.”

The weekend losses move the Hoosiers to 6-4 in games played at Andy Mohr Field.
“Sometimes the game just doesn’t go your way,” Gogreve said. “But if you can come out and learn some things, you can take that into the next weekend.”