University of Minnesota Athletics
Boilermakers Run Past Gophers, 7-0
5/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Minneapolis - The University of Minnesota softball team returned home to Jane Sage Cowles Stadium today (May 1), but were unable to put the brakes on their current losing skid, falling 7-0 to the Purdue Boilermakers.
Minnesota (15-31, 1-12) struggled at the plate, collecting just four hits on the day, against eight for Purdue. Three of those hits came of the bat of Alex Davis (Harbor City, Calif.) who logs just her second perfect day at the plate of her young career. Davis finished 3-for-3 in the game with two doubles.
Purdue (25-24, 6-7) gets over the .500 mark for the first time all season, and inches within a game of evening their record in the Big Ten. They have now won three straight, after sweeping Michigan State on Wednesday.
Boilermaker starter Suzie Rzegocki pitched the complete game shutout, walking just one while giving up the four hits. She struck out just two Golden Gophers as she improved to 20-19 on the year.
Golden Gopher starter Alissa Koch (Racine, Wis.) also went the distance, pitching 7.0 compete innings for the first time since Apr. 18. She gave up seven runs on eight hits, with only three of the runs earned. She struck out two, but walked eight, nearly tying her career high of nine. Koch charts her sixth straight decision, losing to fall to 0-18 on the year.
The Boilermakers wasted little time getting on the board, scoring two runs in the first inning and coming back for two more in the second to lead 4-0 after just two frames. Aided by three walks, Purdue scored their two first inning runs off of just one hit. Then in the second, they banged out three hits, but also stole four total bases in the inning on the way to the next set of runs.
Again being aggressive on the base paths, the Boilermakers stole two more bases in the third, and got the timely run-scoring single to center field to take a 5-0 lead. The score would stay there until they added their final two runs in the seventh inning.
Natalie Neal (Frisco, Texas) had the Gophers' only other hit, a pinch hit single in the fifth. The hit was her third of the season, and first since Feb. 21. Heidi Carls (Villard, Minn.) entered the game on a season long five-game hitting streak, but went 0-for-3 at the plate to bring it to a halt.
Minnesota will look to get their first win since the conference opener on Mar. 27, tomorrow (May 2) when they do battle again with Purdue, back at Jane Sage Cowles Stadium at 1:00 p.m.
