PNW Tops Huntington and Valley City State on Second Day in Arizona
The Purdue University Northwest softball team bounced back from two opening losses with two victories on the second day of the team’s spring trip in Arizona, as the Pride topped Huntington (Ind.) and Valley City State (N.D.) Sunday.
PNW (6-4) defeated the Foresters (1-1) by a score of 9-3 before beating Valley City State 10-2, in five innings. Purdue Northwest returns to action Monday with a pair of games against Valley City State (2:30 p.m. CT) and Mayville State (4:30 p.m.).
PNW 9, HUNTINGTON 3 The Pride used a big fifth inning to blow the game open, scoring four runs in the frame to open the day with a big win. Sophomore Taylor Kotzo (Munster, Ind./Munster) delivered the back-breaking hit, blasting a two-run home run over the left field fence to make the score 4-1 Pride. PNW wasn’t finished, adding two more runs, thanks to a two-RBI single from Alex Morales (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett).
PNW opened its scoring in the third, when Hannah Lopez (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) scored on an RBI fly out by Kyleigh Payne (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bishop Alemany) to make it 1-0, PNW, before HU answered with a score in the bottom of the frame.
In the fourth, the Pride would get two more runs on the board, as Tessa Steffens (Litchfield, Ill./Litchfield) started the frame with a single and Morales singled with two outs to set up Lopez, who connected on a two-RBI single, making it 8-1. HU would add two more runs in the sixth via a two-run home run, but were held scoreless to finish the game.
Kotzo finished 1-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, Payne was 2-for-4 with an RBI, Steffens went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Morales also had two hits, both singles, with two RBI. Lopez went a perfect 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs scored and Holly Pagan (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) and Olivia Sardella (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) each tallied doubles.
Audrey Headley (Lafayette, Ind./McCutcheon) got the win in the circle, striking out six and while scattering five hits.
PNW 10, VALLEY CITY STATE 2 (5 innings) The Vikings took a 2-1 lead in the third, but PNW’s offense would explode for nine runs in the fifth inning to walk away with a mercy-rule victory in Sunday’s nightcap.
Kyleigh Payne started the run-parade with an RBI-single and teammates Holly Pagan (RBI walk), Tessa Steffens (two-RBI double), Samantha Oppenhuis (Munster, Ind./Illiana Christian) (RBI single) would join in on the fun as Valley City State rotated its pitching staff.
Hannah Lopez would also single (twice) and score two runs in the inning, as PNW would finish the game with eight hits, while Pride batters were walked five times and advanced to first on hit-by-pitches three times.
Taylor Kotzo (2-for-2, double), Steffens (1-for-2, two RBI, double), 1-for-2 (two RBI), and Lopez (2-for-2, two runs scored) rounded out the Pride leaders at the plate, while senior Leslie Ford (Garden City, Kan./Garden City) picked up the win in the circle, striking out four while scattering four hits.
Purdue Northwest Drops Two in Arizona Saturday The Purdue University Northwest softball team dropped two games in its opening day in Arizona Saturday, falling to Arizona Christian, who is receiving votes in the preseason NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, by a score of 9-5, and Lawrence Tech (Mich.), 3-1.
Purdue Northwest (4-4) returns to action Sunday with a pair of games against Huntington (Ind.) and Valley City State.
GAME 1: ARIZONA CHRISTIAN 9, PNW 5 The Pride (4-3) opened the game hot, scoring four runs in the first inning after loading the bases to set up RBI singles by Samantha Oppenhuis (Munster, Ind./Illiana Christian) and Caroline Brown (Minooka, Ill./Minooka Community).
But the Firestorm (13-11) would answer with three runs in the second inning to cut the lead to just one, 4-3.
Oppenhuis delivered another big hit in the third, belting an RBI double to score teammate Holly Pagan (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett), who singled to open the inning.
The score remained 5-3 Pride until the top of the seventh, when Arizona Christian connected on three hits to score five runs and take a 9-5 lead which the Pride were unable to answer.
Oppenhuis finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, Brown was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Tessa Steffens (Litchfield, Ill./Litchfield) was 1-for-2 with an RBI to lead the Pride batters.
PNW is currently in action against Lawrence Tech (Mich.) to wrap up Saturday's play. The Pride return to the field Sunday, when they face Huntington (Ind.) and Valley City State.
GAME 2: LAWRENCE TECH 3, PNW 1 The Blue Devils (9-14) jumped to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the third inning and never looked back in Saturday's night cap thanks to strong pitching from Alexa Cherney, who totaled 12 strikeouts and allowed just three hits.
PNW answered with a run in the fourth inning when Hannah Lopez (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) walked and later scored with the help of a Kyleigh Payne (Bourbonnais, Illl./Bishop Alemany) single and an Blue Devil error.
But Cherney held the Pride off balance with seven K's and allowed just one hit in teh final three innings.
Payne, Olivia Sardella (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central), and Lauren Maynard (Griffith, Ind./Griffith) tallied hits for the Pride.
Caroline Brown took the loss for the Pride, allowing just five hits.
PNW Drops Doubleheader to No. 7 Southeastern (Fla.) Saturday The Purdue University Northwest baseball team lost a pair of games to No. 7 ranked Southeastern (Fla.) in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon.
Game 1: Southeastern 4, PNW 2 The Pride took an early lead to start things off, after a groundout from Jake Lindeman (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) plated Austin Kordik (West Chicago, Ill./Community) to give PNW a 1-0 advantage.
Southeastern would answer back in the bottom half the inning to even the score 1-1, but the Black and Gold would take a 2-1 advantage in the top of third inning on an RBI-double from Lindeman which scored Larry Crisler (Gary, Ind./Bishop Noll).
The Fire scored one run in the bottom of the third to even the score again at two runs apiece, and tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of fifth to go ahead 4-2.
Both teams would remain scoreless for the rest of the game, with Southeastern coming away with the 4-2 victory.
Senior pitcher Matt Sandoval (Highland, Ind./Bishop Noll) got the start today for the Pride on the mound, throwing 4.1 innings of work with four strikeouts and allowing three earned runs.
Fabian DelReal (Calumet City, Ill./T.F. North) came in relief to pitch 1.2 innings without allowing a run or a hit.
Game 2: Southeastern 5, PNW 2 Purdue Northwest took a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first frame, after a throwing miscue from the Fire gave the Pride an early advantage.
Southeastern would answer back in the second and third innings, scoring two runs in each frame to take a 4-1 lead.
Sophomore Avondre Harris (Mishawaka, Ind./Mishawaka) would help cut in to the Fire’s lead, plating Cody Moskovsky (St. John, Ind./Bishop Noll) on an RBI-groundout to make it 4-2 in the top of the fourth inning.
Southeastern would tack on one more run in the bottom of the sixth, and held the Pride scoreless for the remainder of the game to come away with the 5-2 win.
Junior Jimmy Skiff (Dyer, Ind./Andrean) suffered the loss for the Pride, throwing 2.1 innings and allowing four earned runs while Brody Kutch (La Porte, Ind./La Porte) came in relief and struck out three batters in 3.2 innings of work.
PNW returns to action Monday, March 13, when they take on Florida Memorial for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. (CT).
Purdue Northwest Falls to IU-East in NAIA Tourney First Round, 85-80 The No. 14 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team lost a hard fought battle to No. 20 Indiana University East, 85-80, in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament Thursday afternoon at Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center.
The Pride (24-9) led by as many as 11 in the second quarter, but a late surge by the Red Wolves (29-5) proved to be the deciding factor the game, giving IU-East its first-ever NAIA Tournament victory.
IU-East advances to Friday’s second round to face No. 1 seed Marian (Ind.), who defeated Olivet Nazarene 105-92 earlier Thursday.
PNW Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) led the Pride with 29 points while Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) and Ellie Michalski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) each chipped in with 10 points to round out the leaders in double-figures.
Senior Katie Wampler (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) added nine points, Shae Rhonehouse (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) and Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) scored eight points, respectively, and junior Jessica Kiser (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) chipped in with six points for PNW.
The Pride were up 44-40 heading in to the half, after a strong offensive performance by Thompson gave PNW the four-point advantage at the break. Thompson scored 20 of her 29 in the first 20 minutes, shooting 7-of-12 from the field by using her speed to her advantage with a variety of fast-break layups.
The third quarter saw both teams even at 21 points apiece, but it was late in the fourth when the Red Wolves made their move. Purdue Northwest led by as many as eight, 73-65, with 7:33 to play when Wampler drained two free throws.
IU-East’s Kristen Miller – who finished with a game-high 34 points – took over after that, hitting a jumper to cut the lead to six. Miller would rattle off back-to-back 3s a minute later to give IU-East a two-point lead, 77-75, with 3:02 left. The Red Wolves would push that lead to four on a Miller jumper with 1:09 to go before Deno answered with a three-point play to bring the Pride within one, 81-80, with 44 seconds left.
But a tough foul call led to two Red Wolves’ free throws and a later 3-pointer wouldn’t fall for PNW, who lost its second-straight first-round game after falling to Mount Marty in 2016.
Under 10-year head coach Tom Megyesi, the Pride wrapped up their sixth-straight 20-plus win season and made their fourth NAIA Tournament appearance in five seasons. PNW will miss its three seniors in 2017-18, as Deno, Thompson, and Wampler completed stellar careers.
PNW, a provisional member of NCAA Division II, will begin play in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference beginning in the fall.
