HAMMOND, Ind. – Purdue Northwest (8-16, 5-8 GLIAC) split Wednesday's conference doubleheader against Ashland (6-14, 3-7 GLIAC) with a 7-4 victory in Game 1 and 9-8 setback in Game 2 at Dowling Park.
GAME 1: PNW 7, AU 4
Courtney Blackwell scattered five hits and only gave up two earned runs with six strikeouts to earn her fifth win inside the circle.
PNW went up 5-2 on a two-run blast by
Taylor Stevens in the second inning and the Pride held on to the lead the rest of the way.
Ashland scored a run in the fourth and another in the sixth, but the Pride responded to each threat by pushing runs across in the home half.
Sabryna Stanley scored on a wild pitch in the fourth and
Montana Martinez brought in the final run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
Stevens, Stanley and
Aubrey Shroyer each had two hits for the Pride. Shroyer lined an RBI double in the second inning.
The Pride outhit the Eagles 9-5 in the opening contest. AU's Jillian Middleton (1-7) took the loss in the circle.
GAME 2: AU 9, PNW 8
PNW was two outs away from a series sweep until the Eagles rallied with three runs.
The Pride got a run back on
Allison Arnold's solo blast in the seventh, her second home run of the game. Then,
Sydney Siedentopf reached on a two-out, pinch-hit single to put the tying run aboard but PNW couldn't finish the comeback.
Arnold (2-for-5) led the way with a career-high five RBIs, which included a grand slam in the third inning to put PNW ahead 7-4. It was the second grand slam of the season for the Pride.
Shroyer stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-5 with her fourth home run to lead off the game for the Pride. She's 10-for-15 (.667) in the previous four games with six RBIs, two doubles, a triple and a home run. Shroyer has now reached safely in 15 consecutive games and the sophomore continues to lead the Pride with a .410 batting average on the year.
Madison Schultz (2-for-3, RBI) and
Ashley Bravo (2-for-4) each collected a pair of hits while Stevens, Stanley and
Briana Poehler each recorded a base knock.
Schultz knocked a run across with an RBI single in the first inning and that was followed by a
Jessica DeBoer sacrifice fly to give the Pride a 3-1 lead.
Maddison Roop struck out three in three innings while
Emma Hill and
Abbie May closed out the game in the circle. Hill (0-3) was charged with the loss despite just three hits allowed.
AU's Jess Duncan (2-3) picked up the relief win with seven strikeouts in five frames of work.
The Eagles chipped away at the Pride's lead with a run in every inning except the sixth.
The two teams combined for 23 hits in the nightcap.
NEXT UP
PNW hosts Wayne State on Saturday with Game 1 of the doubleheader scheduled for noon CDT.
