The Purdue Northwest softball team started their 2024 Florida softball trip with victories defeating Tiffin in five innings, 10-1, and coming from behind to take down Lake Erie in eight innings, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon.
The Basics
- Records: Purdue Northwest (10-8)
- Location: Orlando, Florida - Auburndale Softball Complex
Game 1 - vs. Tiffin - W, 10-1 - 5 Inn.
The Breakdown
- Sophomore Amanda DeBoer (Dyer, Ind./Illiana Christian) led the Pride going 3-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs.
- Freshman Kylie Dugan (Buck Creek, Ind./William Henry Harrison) added two hits and one RBI.
- Graduate student Selena Michko (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) and senior Allison Arnold (Tucson, Ariz./Naperville North) each contributed one hit and two RBIs. Both hit a homerun during the game.
- Freshman Emma Fair (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) and sophomore Olivia Hernandez (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic) each chipped in one hit and one RBI.
- Senior Maddison Roop (Hudson, Ill./University) started on the mound for the Pride and pitched all five innings to record the win. She finished with seven strikeouts and only gave up three hits during the contest.
- Baylee Mirgon led Tiffin with one hit and one RBI.
- Jules King started in the circle for the Dragons and pitched the first 2.2 innings giving up nine hits and six earned runs.
- The Pride took an early lead in the first inning off a Fair RBI single to go up 1-0.
- Tiffin tied the game up 1-1 in the second inning.
- Purdue Northwest grabbed two runs in the third inning including a Michko homer to make the lead, 3-1.
- The Pride added three more runs to extend their advantage to 6-1 in third inning that included an Arnold two-run bomb.
- Purdue Northwest scored their last four runs in the fourth inning and sealed the win in the fifth, 10-1.
- The Pride finished with 12 hits to Tiffin's three.
- The squad had no errors in the game.
Game 2 - vs. Lake Erie - W, 5-3 - 8 Inn.
The Breakdown
- Michko once again led the Pride at the plate with two hits and two RBIs with another homerun.
- Dugan added two hits and one RBI.
- Senior's Kelsi Dillon (Braidwood, Ill./Reed-Custer (Georgian Court)) and Aubrey Shroyer (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) each chipped in one hit and one RBI.
- Freshman Hannah Rafferty-Flatter (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) started in the circle for the Pride and pitched the first six innings only giving five hits and three earned runs.
- Senior Gabby Paliska (Palos Park, Ill./Lincoln-Way East (Wisconsin-Green Bay)) came in for Purdue Northwest and pitched the final two innings to earn the win. She gave up no hits, no runs, and struckout three batters.
- Emma Spahr led the Lake Erie with two hits and two RBIs.
- Carly Rowland started on the mound for the Storm pitching the first 7.2 innings and notching three strikeouts.
- Lake Erie scored the first run of the game in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead.
- The Storm earned a run in the fourth and fifth innings to extend their lead to 3-0.
- In the all important seventh inning, the Pride rallied and scored three runs to tie the game up at 3-3 and take it to extra innings.
- Michko launched a two-run homer in the eighth inning to give Purdue Northwest their first lead of the game 5-3.
- Paliska and the Pride defense shut down the Storm in the eighth to secure the victory in the end.
Up Next
- The Pride continue their Florida Spring Games trip tomorrow on Sunday, March 10 when take on Lewis at 11:15 AM CT and Minn.-Duluth at 1:45 PM CT at the Auburndale Softball Complex.
