May 11, 2007
Columbus, OH – The University of Iowa softball team was defeated by Purdue, 4-1 Friday in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Softball Tournament. Purdue scored all four of its runs in the second inning to down the Hawkeyes.
Jenna Alexander started the one-out rally with a double. Iowa starting pitcher Brittany Weil then walked two-straight batters and followed with a hit batsman to load the bases. She then walked pinch-hitter Alicia Spack for the first run of the game. Katie Mitchell slapped a bases loaded single to left field that scored two more runs and a throwing error allowed the fourth Boilermaker run to score.
Iowa cut Purdue’s lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior Summer Downs and sophomore Colleen McGlaughlin each hit one-out singles to put two runners aboard for the Hawkeyes. Sophomore Callie Adreon entered as a pinch-runner at second base and freshman Katie Brown drove her in with a pinch-hit single up the middle. Unfortunately, that was the only run Iowa could plate in the game.
Purdue came out on top despite being out-hit by Iowa, 7-4. Seven different Hawkeyes each collected one hit.
Sophomore Erin Riemersma led Iowa defensively with multiple great stops at shortstop. She made a diving backhanded stop in the sixth to keep Iowa in the game and picked up a deflected ball off the glove of Weil to throw out another Boilermaker runner. Riemersma made a total of eight putouts at shortstop.
Weil’s record dropped to 18-8 with the loss. She allowed four runs on four hits and walked three while striking out three.
Iowa will now await the NCAA Tournament Selection Show Sunday at 2 p.m. The selection show will air live on ESPN News.
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