Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Observer

Softball: Irish split with Purdue

It was a tale of two games at Ivy Field Wednesday as Notre Dame split its doubleheader with Purdue. The Irish took the first game 9-1 in six innings and lost 7-4 in the second."[Senior righthander] Heather [Booth] shut them down and [freshman righthander Brittany] Bargar gave up big hits in the key situations," Irish coach Deanna Gumpf said. "That's the simple truth of it."Booth (17-9), who took the mound in the first game, shut out the Boilermakers in 5 2-3 innings. The senior scattered three hits and struck out seven before junior Kenya Fuemmeler replaced her in the sixth. After walking three of the four batters she faced, Fuemmeler was pulled and Booth was brought back in to finish the inning. The one run was scored on a passed ball shortly after Booth reentered, but it was charged to Fuemmeler.The real story of game, though, was the Notre Dame offense. Junior Stephanie Brown led off the game with a single to the left side. The floodgates opened from there. Three batters later, Brown and shortstop Sara Schoonaert scored on a Meagan Ruthruaff single. Ruthrauff later crossed the plate on a Katie Laing double.Later in the inning right fielder Carrisa Jaquish homered to give Notre Dame its fourth and fifth runs of the inning."We've been hitting the ball pretty well lately, knock on wood, but I didn't expect us to come out as hot as we did," Gumpf said. Notre Dame added three more runs in the third inning when catcher Mallorie Lenn hit a home run over the left field wall. Ruthrauff scored her run on freshman Linda Kohan's single to center. Outfielder Beth Northway pinch ran for Kohan and scored on a bases-loaded walk.The Irish scored their final run on another Kohan single.Purdue pitcher Melissa Burns started the first game and pitched the majority of the second game in relief. Over the two games, Burns pitched nine innings and gave up two earned runs on 10 hits. The crushing blow for the Irish in the second game was a sixth inning three-run homer by Erica Peterson over the right field wall. The bomb gave the Boilermakers a commanding 7-2 lead.Notre Dame threatened to score in the seventh inning but Jaquish grounded out to shortstop with the bases loaded to end the threat and the game. Bargar pitched all seven innings for the Irish in the loss, bringing her season record to 16-4. She gave up eight hits, walked two and hit two. "She got behind a lot, I wish we could've played around a little more but we never got the chance," said Gumpf. Bargar struggled to throw strikes consistently all game. Three Purdue runs were scored by players who had walked or reached after being hit by a pitch. Booth returns to the mound tomorrow when the Irish travel to Valparaiso. The two teams were supposed to play Tuesday, but the game was cancelled due to weather.