Softball: Streaking Irish grab 11th straight victory
By: MATT LOZAR
Sports Writer
Purdue came to Ivy Field on Thursday and met a hot Notre Dame softball team, and the Irish sent the Boilermakers home just like their previous 10 opponents — losers.
Using timely hitting and another great pitching performance, Notre Dame beat Purdue 4-2 and extended their winning streak to 11 games.
Irish coach Deanna Gumpf was very pleased with her team.
"I think we did great. I think we fought," Gumpf said. "Purdue is one of the scrappiest teams in the nation. They are the kind of team that can beat anybody on a good day. Purdue loves to beat us. It's like bragging rights in Indiana. Purdue would have liked nothing better than to beat us, so today was a great day for us."
Carrie Wisen got the start for the Irish and went the distance for her second complete game victory in as many starts. The freshman pitcher gave up two runs, one earned, on seven hits.
Wisen (8-4) also walked two and struck out six.
"I thought she did great and she wasn't perfect," Gumpf said. "She fought, and I'll take that any day."
Wisen ran into trouble in the top of the third inning. Purdue's Laura Martin hit a one-out double to left. After a groundout gave Wisen two outs, Angi Roembke's bunt single put runners at the corners. Roembke then stole second to place two Boilermakers in scoring position.
However, Wisen recovered to strike out Andrea Hillsey and get out of the jam.
The Irish offense got started in the bottom of the fourth inning by capitalizing on Boilermaker mistakes. Andrea Loman led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch and then third on a throwing error. Catcher Jarrah Myers brought her home with a single.
After an Andria Bledsoe single, Lisa Mattison reached on an error, and Bledsoe advanced to third and Myers scored. Liz Hartmann's single to left scored Bledsoe after an error by the third baseman.
Gumpf believes getting three runs on a wild pitch and three Purdue errors shows how Notre Dame takes advantage of its opponent's mistakes.
"We have talked about that since day one. We knew we were going to have young pitching going in, and our older girls know what it takes," Gumpf said. "We have to generate runs. We have to make things happen, like on a bobbled ball. That's how you manufacture runs."
Purdue came right back in the top of the fifth inning when shortstop Katie Crabtree hit her 11th home run of the year to center field, making the score 3-2. Roembke singled to continue the Boilermaker rally, but Wisen got a fielder's choice and strikeout to end the threat.
The Irish took advantage of more Boilermaker mistakes to add an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, when Myers singled with two outs. A passed ball allowed her to take second, and she scored the fourth Notre Dame run on an error by Purdue's left fielder on Bledsoe's single.
Purdue brought the go-ahead run to the plate in the top of seventh with one out, but Wisen got two groundball outs to end the game.
This weekend, the Irish return to Big East action against Connecticut and Syracuse. The Huskies are 1-7 in the Big East, but are a traditional power in the conference. They are the defending Big East Tournament champions and have won seven titles since 1990.
"UConn's been our rival since the day we came into the Big East," Gumpf said. "On paper, they look like they are down this year, but they are going to fight like heck against us and we have to play great ball to beat them."
Syracuse is a surprising 4-0 on the year in the Big East. Last year they were only 6-14, but Gumpf knows this year's team reflects its good start.
"Syracuse is a very young team and they're very energetic and they are just going to go after us," Gumpf said. "Both teams are very good teams and we need to play our `A' ball to beat them."
Friday's doubleheader against Connecticut starts at 4:00 and the doubleheader against Syracuse starts at 11:00 on Sunday. All four games are at Ivy Field.
Notes:
Thursday's victory over Purdue extends Notre Dame's home winning streak at Ivy Field to 24 games.
After being held out of Thursday's game, pitcher Steffany Stenglein is healthy and will pitch for the Irish in this weekend.
Hartmann and Loman both returned to the Notre Dame lineup after sitting out Tuesday's doubleheader against Valparaiso. Hartmann was 2 for 3 with an RBI while Loman was also 2 for 3 and scored a run.
All Sports Stories for Friday, April 12, 2002
