March 13, 1999
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman hopes that Nicole Crouse's family attends every game for the rest of the season after Friday's results. The freshman pitcher (La Palma, Calif.) showed off in front of her relatives, who made the trip north to San Jose to see her for the first time in a college uniform, by winning all three games for the Boilermakers (9-5) on the first day of the National Invitational Softball Tournament.
By going undefeated in their pool, the Boilers claimed a No. 1 seed heading into the championship bracket Saturday morning. The NIST split its 20 teams into championship and consolation brackets after Friday's games. Purdue is scheduled to play tournament-host San Jose St. (8-19) at 9 a.m. Both brackets feature a double-elimination format.
"Today was an awesome day for Purdue softball," Bruggeman said. "We beat Nebraska, which is a top 25 team, Colorado State, which made it to the regionals of the NCAA Tournament last year, and Santa Clara, which is also a tough team."
Crouse pitched 15.2 innings on Friday and allowed one earned run to improve her record to 6-3 and lower her ERA to 1.17. She led Purdue to a 3-2 win over Colorado State (9-14), a 2-1 victory against Santa Clara (6-28), and a 6-2 triumph over No. 20 Nebraska (7-6).
Offensively, junior Skeeter Nixon equaled Crouse's heroics. The Glenwood, Ill., native continues to show flashes of power after hitting two solo home runs, one against Santa Clara and another against Nebraska. Coming into the season, Nixon had a career home-run total of zero. So far in 1999, Nixon is on a Sosa-like pace with three bombs in 14 games.
"I saw the ball well all day," Nixon said. "The first home run felt like a pop-up, but the second one I crushed. Today was one of those days that you live for."
Other standouts included senior Kristen Billen, who is taking advantage of her new role as the clean-up hitter. Billen was 6-for-11 (.545) on the day. Senior Denise Szany and freshman Katie Crabtree are batting .500 in the tournament.
"There were really three things that happened today that helped us win," Bruggeman said. "Crouse had an outstanding performance on the mound, Skeeter and Szany did a great job at the plate, and we had a solid overall team effort."
R H E Colorado State 2 8 1 Purdue 3 9 1Santa Clara 1 4 0 Purdue 2 10 2
Purdue 6 10 2 Nebraska 2 5 1