HAMMOND, Ind. – Purdue Northwest Softball honored its four outgoing seniors, including Kara Alosio,
Kiara Negron (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young),
Amanda Noblett (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central) and
Montana Martinez (Calumet City, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) between games during Saturday's doubleheader against Davenport. Unfortunately, PNW suffered a pair of losses to the Panthers by final scores of 7-5 and 3-0 at RUSH Physical Therapy Field.
PNW (24-16, 13-11 GLIAC) gave itself a chance to win the previous three games, but couldn't convert with a timely hit. The Pride will look to rebound from four consecutive losses in Sunday's home doubleheader against Wayne State.
GAME 1: DAVENPORT 7, PURDUE NORTHWEST 5
If there was any indication of how the day would go, the PNW faithful witnessed it in the bottom of the second with the Pride trailing 1-0 and having the bases loaded and one out but a strikeout and groundout ended the threat.
Davenport used a walk and three consecutive singles to extend its lead out to 3-0 before the PNW offense finally woke from its slumber when
Aubrey Shroyer (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) led off the inning with a single and
Ashley Bravo (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young) drove Shroyer in with a double to right center.
Madison Schultz (Lafayette, Ind./Faith Christian) reached on a fielding error by the Davenport third baseman and Bravo scored on the play. Following a
Selena Michko (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) single,
Allison Arnold (Tucson, Ariz./Naperville North) doubled to left center to drive in Schultz and Michko to put PNW up 4-3.
The lead was short lived after two errors extended the top of the fourth enough for the Panthers to tally four unearned runs and chase starting pitcher
Abbie May (LaSalle, Ill./Saint Bede Academy) from the game. May (8-3) ended her day going 3.2 innings giving up seven runs with only three earned on 10 hits with one walk, one strikeout and one hit by pitch.
Emma Hill (Holmes Beach, Fla./Cary-Grove (IL)) stepped into the circle and finished the game going 3.1 innings without allowing a run or walk and striking out three and giving up three hits to give her team a chance.
PNW inched closer in the sixth inning when
Jocey Gault's (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) double advanced Bravo to third before a throwing error by the Panthers pushed Bravo across to being the Pride to within 7-5.
Then, high, swirling winds from left field to right center cost the Pride a tie in the bottom of the seventh. With Michko drawing a leadoff walk, Arnold hit a long shot to deep left field, but the winds kept the ball from going out. Another flyout and a strikeout ended the game and gave Davenport the victory.
The Panthers got a terrific effort out of reliever Ellie Muilenburg as she went 4.2 innings giving up one unearned run on four hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
In a losing effort, Shroyer had a memorable offensive outing picking up her third three-hit performance in the last 11 days by going 3 for 4 with a run scored. Bravo and Michko both notched a pair of hits and Arnold drive in a pair.
GAME 2: DAVENPORT 3, PURDUE NORTHWEST 0
The second game saw Muilenburg pick up where she left off and toss a complete game four hit shutout for the Davenport sweep.
PNW got a runner to third in each of the first two innings but the inability to collect a big hit when needed continued to cost the Pride.
Davenport capitalized and got on the scoreboard first in the third inning on a sacrifice fly for an early 1-0 lead.
The bottom of the sixth seemed like the Pride were going to finally score after Bravo singled to lead off the inning, and Arnold was hit by a pitch, but a strikeout and consecutive groundouts to Muilenburg in the circle thwarted the scoring opportunity.
Davenport tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the top of the seventh before Muilenburg sent the Pride down in order to end the game.
Despite the offense struggling throughout the game,
Maddison Roop (Hudson, Ill./University) (5-3) recorded a strong outing and tossed all seven innings giving up three runs with only one earned on six hits, two strikeout, one walk and a hit by pitch.
UP NEXT
PNW will look to bounce back in its final two games at RUSH Physical Therapy Field at Dowling Park when the Pride welcome in the Wayne State Warriors for a Sunday afternoon affair. First pitch for Game 1 is scheduled for 1 p.m. CDT.
FOLLOW THE PRIDE
For all the latest information on Purdue Northwest Softball, please visit PNWathletics.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Pride (@pnwathletics / @PNWSoftball) on Twitter. You can also find the Pride on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
