Oct. 10, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue softball team swept their way to victory at the Fall Classic on Sunday. The Boilermakers shut out Bowling Green 4-0 in the first game and Louisville 2-0 in the second. The pitching staff combined to allow only four hits in the two games while striking out 15.
"Meagan (Dooley) and Leighann (Burke) pitched so well for us this weekend," coach Carol Bruggeman said. "The two were dominating, just overpowering the hitters. Our pitching staff has shown us a lot this fall. We need to keep improving over the winter and come out ready in the spring."
In the first game Purdue jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Katie Crabtree was hit by a pitch with two outs in the inning. After a walk to Crissy Davie, Jesse Jones stepped up and singled to center to bring in Crabtree.
The lone run was all Burke would need, as the freshman southpaw gave up a just one hit in five innings of work, while striking out seven along the way. Burke struck out the first four batters she faced and didn't give up the lone hit until the fourth inning.
"Leighann had great stuff today," Bruggeman said. "She didn't make very many mistakes, and our defense played well behind her."
Crabtree, who went 1-2 with two runs scored and a stolen base in the game, was a major part of that defense. With the Boilers up 1-0 in the fourth inning, Bowling Green's Collen Bates hit a two out double to the left center gap. Jenny Domschot then laced a grounder up the middle, which appeared to have enough to scoot through the infield, but was snagged by the shortstop Crabtree at the last second, who then spun and fired a rocket to first to nail Domschot and end the inning.
The Boilers went on to score three runs in the bottom of the fifth on RBI's by Joy Ishida, Jesse Jones and Heidi Foster.
Against Louisville pitching dominated once again. Meagan Dooley pitched six innings of two hit ball, while striking out six. The sophomore was every bit as overpowering as Burke had been. Dooley sat down the first 12 hitters she faced, striking out four in the four inning span. She gave up two singles in the fifth, but struck out the side to preserve the 1-0 lead the Boiler offense had scrapped out in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Ishida. The two singles would be the only two Cardinals to reach base against Purdue on the afternoon as Crystal Inman retired the last three batters in the seventh.
Crabtree was named tournament MVP, while Dooley and Burke each picked up All-Tournament honors.
The Boilermakers wrapped up their fall season 7-0, winning both the Fall Classic and the Bradley Invitational. Their next game will be February 11th, when the team will travel to Arlington, Texas to play in the University of Texas-Arlington Tournament.