Purdue Calumet Splits at St. Xavier; Captures Game 1, 5-4
The Purdue University Calumet baseball team split a twinbill against Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent St. Xavier University Wednesday afternoon.
The Peregrines (14-15, 9-11) won the opener, 5-4 before falling to the Cougars (20-20,12-10) the nightcap, 10-2.
Senior Eric Sickles (Benicia, Calif./Benicia) led the Peregrines offensively going 4-for-8 in two games with a pair of triples and three RBI while John Cristo (Munster, Ind./Munster) went 3-for-6 with one RBI and Alec Skalka (Munster, Ind./Munster) went 3-for-7 with one run scored.
Game 1: Peregrines 5, St. Xavier 4
The Cougars would take an early advantage in the opening contest, scoring one run in both the first and third innings to take a 2-0 lead heading in to the fourth.
The Peregrines would answer in the top half for the fourth, thanks to back-to-back RBI-hits from Sickles and Cristo to even the score 2-2.
St. Xavier would regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth frame, taking advantage of a fielding error from the Black and Gold to go up 4-2.
In a back-and-forth battle the Peregrines would even the score again in the top of the sixth inning, thanks to Sickles and Cody Moskovsky (St. John, Ind./Bishop Noll), who helped the Peregrines tie the game at 4-4.
Purdue Calumet would score what would be the game-winning run in the top of the seventh, after a sacrifice fly from Tyler Crussen (Valparaiso, Ind./Wheeler), plated Skalka to put the Peregrines up one run.
Freshman Brett Shoults (Oxford, Ind./Benton Central) would enter the game for Jimmy Skiff (Dyer, Ind./Andrean) in the bottom of the seventh and close the game out to earn the save in the 5-4 victory.
Skiff earned the win for the Peregrines on the mound, allowing four runs through six innings of work and striking out three.
Game 2: St. Xavier 10, Peregrines 2
St. Xavier would mimic what the Cougars did in the first game, scoring in the first and third innings to take a 2-0 advantage heading in to the fourth.
The Cougars would extend their lead in the fifth frame, scoring two more runs on three hits to take a 4-0 lead.
Cody Dykema (Crown Point, Ind./Lake Central) would put the Peregrines on the board in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI-single from Sickles but the Cougars would answer with three more runs in the bottom half of the inning to extend their lead to 7-1.
Purdue Calumet would score one more run in the seventh on Cody Moskovsky’s first home run in a Peregrine uniform to cut the deficit to 7-2.
St. Xavier would keep their bats alive to tack on three more runs and come away with the 10-2 win.
Matt Sandoval (Highland, Ind./Bishop Noll) suffered his first loss of the season on the mound, allowing four runs in six innings of work and striking out five.
Danny Jacobsen (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) would come in relief to throw three innings, and allowing three earned runs.
The Peregrines return to action Friday, April 22, when they travel to Bourbonnais, Ill., for a single-game with the Tigers. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m. (CT)
Purdue Calumet Sweeps Purdue North Central in CCAC Play
The Purdue University Calumet softball team came away with a two-game league sweep on the road Purdue North Central Wednesday, winning 4-3 and 8-1 – the second game going nine innings.
Junior Samantha Oppenhuis (Munster, Ind./Illiana Christian) led the way for the Peregrines (20-21, 9-7 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) at the plate, finishing 4-for-6 with a double, RBI and a run across the two games. Teammate Sydney Schmitt (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) had a huge Game 2, going 2-for-5 with a double and four RBI.
Carly Murphy (Munster, Ind./Munster) picked up both W’s on the day, pitching all seven innings in the Game 1 win and coming on relief for the final two in the nine-inning Game 2 victory.
Purdue Calumet returns to action Saturday, April 23, with a CCAC doubleheader against St. Francis (Ill.) at Dowling Park. Game 1 is slated for a 1 p.m. CT start at Fifth Third Bank Field.
GAME 1: PURDUE CALUMET 4, PURDUE NORTH CENTRAL 3
The host Panthers struck early in the day’s opener, plating three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-0 lead that stood for the next three innings. Purdue Calumet would finally answer with a score in the fifth, when Holly Pagan (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) walked with the bases loaded to plate Hannah Lopez (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany), who also walked.
Still trailing, 3-1, the Peregrines would get another run in the sixth, when Taylor Kotzo (Munster, Ind./Munster) singled and Oppenhuis doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. Dri Tashijan (Mishawaka, Ind./Penn) came up with the RBI single to score Kotzo to cut the lead to one, at 3-2.
With Murphy keeping Panther hitters off-balance in the final frames, Purdue Calumet finished with a big seventh, led off by an Olivia Sardella (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) single. With two runners on, it was Kotzo who came up with the game-winning hit, doubling to plate Tessa Steffens (Litchfield, Ill./Litchfield) and Brianna Hall (University Park, Ill./Marian Catholic).
Murphy (10-9) got the complete-game win, scattering six hits, striking out four and walking just one while giving up three earned runs. Sardella and Kotzo each tallied two hits to lead the Peregrines’ eight-hit effort.
GAME 2: PURDUE CALUMET 8, PURDUE NORTH CENTRAL 1 (9 innings)
The Peregrines needed a huge ninth inning to pull away from the Panthers in what was a close Game 2.
After the Panthers tied the game at 1-all in the sixth, neither team could score in the seventh to send the game to extra innings. It would stay that way, too, until Purdue Calumet exploded for seven runs on six hits in the ninth, the biggest a Sydney Schmitt three-RBI double with the beases loaded and two outs. Alex Morales (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) added an RBI walk, and Taylor Kotzo and Samantha Oppenhuis each had RBI singles in the game-winning frame.
Reliever Carly Murphy, who took over for starter Holly Pagan in the seventh, then shut the door, getting the Panthers to hit into three straight outs to end the game. Although Murphy was credited with the win, Pagan pitched a gem, allowing just three hits, striking out three and giving up just one earned run in seven innings pitched.
The Peregrines reached the scoreboard first, plating a run in the second inning when Schmitt recorded an RBI groundout to score Morales, who singled. The Panthers would answer in the sixth on a Molly Marsh RBI single to score Kaycie Pyle, who doubled.
Oppenhuis finished Game 2 3-for-5 with an RBI, a run scored, and Steffens, Schmitt, and Morales each had two hits to lead the Peregrines’ offense.