The Purdue Northwest softball team splits Day of the McKendree Invitational after two hard fought games, falling to Washburn, 7-4, and then rallying to defeat Maryville, 11-5
The Basics
- Records: Purdue Northwest (8-6)
- Location: O'Fallon, Ill. - O'Fallon Family Sports Park
Game 1 - vs. Washburn - L, 7-4
The Breakdown
- Senior Aubrey Shroyer (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) led the Pride with three hits and one RBI.
- Freshman Kylie Dugan (Buck Creek, Ind./William Henry Harrison) added one hit and one RBI.
- Four more Pride players chipped in one hit each.
- Senior Gabby Paliska (Palos Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East (Wisconsin-Green Bay)) started on the mound for the Pride and pitched all seven innings with two strikeouts.
- Marrit Mead and Kaylee Wagner led Washburn with two hits and one RBI each.
- Jaycee Ginter started in the circle for the Ichabods and pitched the first six innings with seven strikeouts and earned the win.
- Washburn started fast scoring their first three runs in the first inning to take an early 3-0 lead.
- Purdue Northwest gained their first run after a Myah Stuckey (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) RBI hit to make it 3-1 in the second inning.
- The Ichabods added a run in the third and three more in the sixth to extend their lead to 7-4.
- The Pride did not give up though, scoring three runs in the seventh inning but having their rally cut short and falling in the end, 7-4.
Game 2 - vs. Maryville - W, 11-5
The Breakdown
- Junior Darcy Barkauskas (St. John, Ind./Lake Central) led the Pride at the plate with two hits and five RBIs including her first collegiate homerun.
- Dugan added three hits and one RBI with one stolen base.
- Senior Jessica DeBoer (Dyer, Ind./Illiana Christian) contribute two hits and one RBI.
- Sophomore Amanda DeBoer (Dyer, Ind./Illiana Christian) chipped in one hit and two RBIs.
- Freshman Hannah Rafferty-Flaherty started in the circle for the Pride and pitched the first 2.1 innings.
- Paliska came in for Purdue Northwest and pitched the final 4.2 innings to earn the win and notched five strikeouts.
- Brooklyn Moore and Jenna Kosnoff each led Maryville with two hits and one RBI.
- Ella Ludden started on the mound for the Saints pitching the first three innings with three strikeouts.
- Maryville grabbed the lead in the first inning notching one run to take the early 1-0 lead.
- The Saints added another run in the second to take a 2-0 advantage.
- Maryville scored three more runs in the third inning to increase their lead to 5-0.
- The Pride scored their first runs of the game in the fourth inning tallying three runs and cut the deficit to 5-3.
- Purdue Northwest came out in the all important seventh inning and lit up the scoreboard scoring eight runs that included a grand slam bomb from Darkauskas to make the score 11-5 and seal the win in the end.
Up Next
- The Pride finish the McKendree Invitational in Day 2 action on Saturday, March 2. Game 1 is 12:00 PM CT vs. UMSL and Game 2 is at 2:30 PM CT against the host McKendree.
