Softball team drops close games to Michigan

Chris Pickard/Chief Photographer
The Purdue softball team hosted seventh-ranked Michigan in a doubleheader Wednesday. However, the Wolverines tagged out the Boilers chances of winning in two close games.

By Keith Thomas
Staff Writer

For Jim Davie, Wednesday was a day of choosing sides as seventh-ranked Michigan faced the Boilers in a double header.

Purdue (20-16, 1-4 Big Ten) lost both games, the second in 11 innings, to Michigan (32-5-1, 5-0) on Wednesday afternoon.

Davie, the father of Purdue freshman right fielder Chrissy Davie and Michigan senior left fielder Cathy Davie, was wearing a dual hat during the two games, literally. Half of the proud father's hat was a Boiler hat with Chrissy's number on it and the other half was a Wolverine hat with the number of the older sibling.

"It would be very hard if the Big Ten championship came down to Purdue and Michigan," he said, "We are proud of them both and love the way they support each other, but it would be a hard game to watch."

Chrissy had the better of her sister in game one with a 2-for-2 performance in the Boilers' 2-0 loss in the first game. Cathy, who is also Michigan's leading hitter with a .429 batting average, went 0-for-3 in the shutout.

"I was definitely pulling for my team, but it was hard when (Cathy) came up to bat," said Chrissy.

Cathy, who also leads the Wolverines in home runs (five) and RBIs (41), had her revenge in the second game by going 2-for-4 with a pair of walks, while her younger sister ended up 0-for-5 with a couple of strikeouts. Both Davie sisters ended up with two hits apiece on that day.

"It was very awkward facing my sister, but very exciting at the same time," said Chrissy.

Game one was scoreless until the top of the seventh inning when sophomore Rebecca Tune hit a two-run single to put the Wolverines a head. The Boilers were unable to answer and ended up scoreless on three hits while committing two errors.

Freshman pitcher Nicole Crouse (9-8) threw all seven innings while walking one and striking out one.

In the second game, Michigan took an early lead, scoring first in the third inning, and adding another run in the fourth to go lead 2-0.

Purdue would come back in the seventh behind a lead-off double by senior shortstop Jenny Barnett. Barnett tagged up and advanced to third on sophomore pinch hitter Danica Nice's fly ball to right field. Senior Sam Mercier followed with an RBI groundout to short. Senior Mandy Smart then reached base on an error by the Michigan pitcher and advanced to second on a walk to Davie.

With a full count and two outs, senior first baseman Denise Szany's RBI double to right field would even the game at two.

The game would remain tied until the 11th inning when the Wolverines took the lead on three singles and held on to win the game by a score of 3-2.

Although the Boilers are 1-4 in Big Ten play, all five of their games have been close, with two of them needing extra innings to decide the outcome.

"We have proven that we are right there with the top-20 teams in the country," said Coach Carol Bruggeman. "We just need to find a way to get that big hit."

Bruggeman said she is proud of how her team stayed with Michigan, played hard and never gave up, and Szany said the Boilers have been fighting and not giving up all season.

"We're going to have to bounce back this weekend against Michigan State, that's all we can do," Szany said.

April 8, 1999