October 9, 1998
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue softball team will host its annual fall exhibition tournament this weekend at the Varsity Softball Complex. Ball State, Ohio State and Valparaiso will join Purdue at the round-robin Boilermaker Fall Classic. Purdue will play Valparaiso at 9 a.m. and Ohio State at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Ball State at 11 a.m. on Sunday. The top two teams will play in the championship game at 3 p.m.
The Boilermakers opened their fall season with a strong showing in September at the Bradley Invitational in Orland Park, Ill. Purdue went 4-2 and reached the semifinals of the 20-team tournament, before falling 2-1 to Loyola (Ill.). Freshman pitcher Nicole Crouse and junior pitcher Crystal Inman both picked up two pitching victories at the invitational. Offensively, the Boilermakers were led by freshman Chrissy Davie and senior Jenny Barnett. Davie went 10-for-21 (.476) at the plate, while Barnett was 6-for-13 (.462).
The Purdue softball team lost six seniors and three starters from last year's squad that went 29-30. To fill the hole, Purdue has added eight freshmen to the 1998-99 roster. The Boilermaker Classic marks the end of the fall schedule. Purdue will open the regular season at the North Carolina Invitational on Feb. 19-21, 1999.
Boilermaker Classic Schedule
Saturday
9 am Valparaiso vs. Purdue 11 am Valparaiso vs. Ball State 1 pm Ohio State vs. Purdue 3 pm Ohio State vs. Ball StateSunday
9 am Ohio State vs. Valparaiso 11 am Ball State vs. Purdue 1 pm Consolation 3 pm Championship