September 11, 1998
After a long summer, the Purdue women's softball team is looking forward to kicking off the fall season. The Boilers will travel to Orland Park, Ill., this weekend to compete against 19 other teams in the Bradley Invitational.
"We've been practicing for two weeks and we're looking forward to finally facing some competition," head coach Carol Bruggeman says. "Our goal is to play everyone and give all the freshman a chance to play in a Purdue uniform."
In May, Purdue lost standout pitcher Sheryl Scheve after completing her eligibility and will look to freshmen Meagan Dooley and Nicole Crouse to rejuvenate the Boilers' pitching staff. Also looking to fill the hole left by Scheve is junior Crystal Inman. The Middletown, Ind., native is in her third season with a total of 67.1 innings pitched and 25 strikeouts in her career. Catching Inman behind the plate will be sophomore Keely Povlitz. A sensation for Purdue in her debut year, Povlitz started 53 games as catcher and recorded a .969 fielding percentage.
"Our basic goal of this weekend is to try new things," Purdue assistant coach Christy Connoyer says. "We have six freshmen and hopefully they can get the game experience they need. It should be a lot of fun."
Back at her veteran position at second base will be Sam Mercier. The senior began her career as a walk-on for the Boilers and has made a name for herself in the conference as a second team All Big Ten selection in 1997 and 1998. Mercier posted a team-leading .350 batting average as a junior and a .975 fielding percentage.
"Although our team is very young, we've looked great in practice and are real fired up to play this weekend," Mercier says.
At the corners will be the "killer B's", senior Kristie Boland at third and senior Kristen Billen at first. The duo combined for only 14 errors in 519 attempts last season. Rounding out the infield will be freshman Katie Crabtree at shortstop. At the designated player position will be one of Purdue's most dangerous hitters, Denise Szany. The senior batted .349 a year ago with a team-leading .463 on-base percentage.
Skeeter Nixon and Mandy Smart return in the Boiler outfield. Nixon, a junior, will start in left field while senior Smart will slide over from right to center. The switch comes due to the graduation of Jenny Schoen. Nixon batted .266 last season and stole 18-of-21 bases on the year. While Smart started all 59 Purdue games and hit Boiler fourth-best .306. Freshman Chrissy Davie will start in right field.
"We are all real excited to get out and play this weekend," Nixon says. "I know that we have a lot of talent and will be very successful."
Purdue will hit the field at 9 a.m. Saturday morning when they take on Southern Illinois University in the first game of pool play. The Boilers are scheduled to play Missouri-St. Louis at 11 a.m. and Olivet Nazarene at 5 p.m. Sunday morning, Purdue will finish pool play against Wisconsin-Parkside at 11 a.m. Tournament play will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday.