APSU/IUPUI Box Score I Belmont/IUPUI Box Score

COLUMBIA, Tenn. - Freshman ace Nikki Thomas tied the school record by fanning 15 batters in her collegiate debut and senior Chelsie Hale blasted a pair of homeruns in the nightcap as the IUPUI softball team opened its 2011 season with a pair of wins at the Belmont/Hampton Inn-Brentwood Spring Tournament on Saturday. The Jags knocked off Austin Peay 6-1 in game one and host Belmont 9-4 in the evening at Eddie Campbell Field on the Columbia State Community College campus.

The wins marked IUPUI's first-ever 2-0 start to the season since the 1999 campaign in the first year of Division I play.

In game one, IUPUI staked Thomas to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Julie Love doubled and later scored on Brandi Lawson's run scoring hit to right. IUPUI added a single run in the fourth and pushed across a pair of runs in the fifth without a hit. Both Alicia Brewer and Amy Raker drove home runs with ground outs, making it 4-0.

The only blemish against Thomas came in the bottom of the fifth when Catie Cozart cracked a leadoff homer, making it a 4-1 game. However, IUPUI got the run back and more in the top of the sixth when Lawson drilled a two-out, two-run homer to set the final score.

Thomas (1-0) allowed just four hits and a walk in the 15-strikeout performance. Her effort matched that of IUPIU Hall of Famer Trudy Bernath, who struck out 15 against Marian on Mar. 30, 1981. Love finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Lawson was 2-for-2 with four RBI.

In game two, the IUPUI offense got rolling early and the pitching combination of Samantha Bumbaugh and Jocelyn Oppenhuis made it stand in the 9-5 win over host Belmont.

Brewer led off the game with a solo homerun off Belmont Mia Vierra to give the Jaguars an early 1-0 advantage. Later in the inning, the Jaguars pulled off a successful first-and-third double steal with Hannah Croucher coming across with the game's second run.

From there, it was primarily the Hale show as the Fishers-native hit a two-run shot in the third and three-run blast in the fourth inning, making it 9-1 Jags.

Bumbaugh (1-0) struck out seven in five innings work before getting chased after a two-run homer in the sixth. Oppenhuis was brilliant in relief, striking out one in two scoreless innings.

Hale and Leah Prewitt had two hits each for the Jaguars and Croucher scored twice in the win. Hale had just two career homers in 201 at-bats entering Saturday's play.  

IUPUI will return to action on Sunday when it plays Wright State (10 a.m.) and host Belmont (2:30 p.m.) before returning home.