Feb. 8, 2009
Box Score
Los Angeles, Calif. - A rough fourth inning proved to be the undoing of the Pacific softball as the Tigers fell to Purdue, 8-1, on Sunday, Feb. 8 in both teams final contest at the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, hosted by UCLA.
The Tigers fell to 1-2 following the loss, while Purdue moved to 2-0 on the season.
Senior Chelsea Engle (Folsom, Calif.) suffered the loss (0-2) for the Tigers, allowing five runs (four earned) on four hits and four walks in 3.2 innings.
Purdue's Suzie Rzegocki (1-0) earned the win, giving up only one hit in five innings of work.
Through the first three innings of action both pitchers were working steadily through their opposition as neither Engle nor Rzegocki had allowed a hit. In the fourth all that would change as the Boilermakers used their second stint through the lineup to break open the contest, knocking out six hits and taking advantage of three Tiger errors to post seven runs in the inning.
Purdue began the inning with back-to-back doubles to post the first run of the game and break up the hitless streak for both teams. A walk and a sacrifice later had the Boilermakers threatening to break open the game with runners at second and third an only one out. A sharp single to short scored the second run of the game after which the Tigers posted the second out of the inning on a line out to left.
Just as the Tigers had struggled with a day before against San Diego State, Pacific could not get the third and final out of the inning against the Boilermakers which would have halted the rally and kept the big inning from happening. With two outs, the Tigers allowed three hits, three errors, one walk and one wild pitch before finally recording the final out of the inning on a pop to right field the ended the seven run onslaught.
Purdue would add an eighth run in the top of the seventh inning on a solo homerun to left by Beth Cinadr who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter for the Boilermakers.
Down eight, the Tigers would avoid the shutout in the bottom half of the seventh, pushing across a single run for their first and only run of the game. Freshman Erin Stephens (Davis, Calif.) led the inning off with a double into the right-center gap, marking her first collegiate hit. She would advance to third on a wild pitch and then come around to score her first ever run on a single through the right side off the bat of senior Casey Goldsand (Scottsdale, Ariz.).
Pacific was not without it chances in the contest, most notably in the second inning when the Tigers left the bases loaded after working three consecutive walks with two outs in the inning. They were unable to capitalize on the free bases, however, as Rzegocki picked up one of her game-high five strikeouts to end the inning.
Pacific returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 11 as the Tigers open their home schedule with a doubleheader against local rival Sacramento State beginning at 1 p.m.
