The Purdue University Calumet softball team set a new program record for runs scored and hits in a 10-inning marathon at league foe Roosevelt University Sunday, as the Peregrines held on for a 23-21 victory.
Purdue Calumet (10-10, 4-4 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) connected on a school-record 21 hits – led by a team-best four by Alison Kimble (Greenup, Ill./Cumberland) and Alex Morales (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) – to pull off the wild victory at The Ballpark at Rosemont (Ill.).
An originally scheduled doubleheader, Game 2 was postponed until Wednesday due to weather.
Kimble finished 4-for-6 with two RBI and a double and Morales was 4-for-6 with three RBI, a double and a triple. Senior Ashley Adams (Lafayette, Ind./Central Catholic) also had a fantastic day at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI.
The Peregrines opened the day with a four-run first to take an early lead, but the Lakers (5-12, 0-2 CCAC ) responded with nine runs of their own to open up what would be a 44-run game.
Purdue Calumet would score seven in the second – in the same inning Adams drilled her first home run, this time to center field – to regain the lead at 11-9. But Roosevelt would again answer with four in the bottom of the frame take the lead at 13-11.
Both teams would net two runs each in the third as the Lakers entered the fourth up, 15-13. Purdue Calumet would answer with three runs in the top of the inning, as Adams scored on an error and Kimble and Morales added RBI-hits to go back up, 16-15.
The Peregrines added one more in the sixth on Adams’ second long ball of the game, before the Lakers netted three runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead again, 18-17.
Once again, Purdue Calumet answered on the offensive end with four runs in the top of the seventh, capitalizing off of two Roosevelt errors with a Jess Loy (Skokie, Ill./Niles North) RBI-triple and RBIs from Skyler Woods (Beecher, Ill./Beecher) and Adams to take a 21-18 lead.
Roosevelt wouldn’t go down, scoring three in the bottom of the inning – thanks to the help of a Morgan Vogt two-run home run – to knot the game at 21-all and send it to extra innings.
The two teams would go scoreless for the next two frames until the Peregrines struck with two in the top of the 10th, as freshman Kellie Mink (Stilesville, Ind./Cascade) connected on a RBI single and senior Alicia Ward (Mishawaka, Ind./Jimtown) added an RBI sacrifice fly.
Kimble shut down three-straight Lakers’ batters in the bottom of the 10th to seal the win. The senior finished with six strikeouts in 9.0 innings en route to her fifth victory of the season.
Purdue Calumet’s 21 hits set a new record for hits in a contest in the game, as Mink added three hits and two RBI and freshman Kaitlyn Skarecky (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) added two hits and a RBI, Olivia Donley (Bourbonnais, Ill./Bradley) had two hits and Loy added two hits and three RBI for the Peregrines.
Amanda Ferguson led the Lakers with a perfect 6-for-6 performance at the plate with four runs scored, seven RBI, a triple and a home run.
The Peregrines return to action Tuesday, March 31, when they host league foe Calumet College of St. Joseph for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. (CT) at Dowling Park.