FORT WAYNE – The IUPUI softball team split Saturday's doubleheader at Purdue Fort Wayne. The Jags fell in the first game of the day in a long 12-inning battle, 8-7, then flipped the script and defeated the Mastodons in game two, 8-7.
 
In game one, the Jags tied the game up in the seventh inning but after 12 innings, the Mastodons earned the extra-inning victory, 8-7.
 
IUPUI took the lead first with one run in the first inning. Kennedy Cowan reached on an error to score Kendal Calvert. The Mastodons countered in the bottom of the third inning with two runs to take the lead, 2-1.
 
The Jags scored one run in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2-2. Alexa Holman singled to right field to score Cowan. Purdue Fort Wayne took the lead again in the fifth frame with three runs, 5-2.
 
With the game on the line in the top of the seventh inning, IUPUI tied the game at 5-5. Paige McPhearson reached on an error by the Mastodons' shortstop to score Rachael Gregory and Morgan Gilbert. Cowan then reached on a throwing error by the catcher which scored Calvert to tie the game at 5-5.
 
After a scoreless eighth inning, McPhearson doubled to left field to score Calvert to give the Jags a 6-5 lead in the ninth inning. Once again, the game was tied in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Mastodons scoring on a Jaguar error, 6-6.
 
Holman then doubled in the top of the 12^th inning to score Cowan to take a 7-6 lead, but Purdue Fort Wane scored two runs in the bottom of the 12^th to walk it off, 8-7.
 
Holman took the loss in the circle, throwing the complete game. She gave up eight runs (six earned) on ten hits with four strikeouts. Gregory, Calvert, Gilbert and Holman each recorded two hits while McPhearson, Cowan, Kelli Riordan and Kaylen Garland all added one hit each.
 
In game two, IUPUI recorded 12 hits and came back from a 6-0 deficit to earn the victory, 8-7.
 
The Mastodons jumped on the board first with three runs in the second inning, 3-0. PFW added three more runs in the fourth inning, 6-0.
 
IUPUI cut into the lead in the top of the fifth inning with three runs. Gilbert singled to right field to score Riordan, putting the Jags on the board, 6-1. A wild pitch scored Calvert then Cowan doubled to left field to score Gilbert, 6-3.
 
The Jags scored three more runs in the top of the sixth inning to tie the game at 6-6. Riordan singled to right field to score Gregory, 6-4. Gilbert then singled to left field to score Maicey Bedrick and Victoria Sivert, 6-6.
 
The Mastodons took the lead back in the bottom half of the sixth with one run, 7-6. The Jags wasted no time in the top of the seventh. Freshman and reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, McPhearson knocked her first collegiate home run to score two runs, 8-7.
 
Jasmin Speth earned her first collegiate win in the circle for the Jags giving up just four runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work. McPhearson, Riordan, Gilbert and Cowan all added two hits each while Calvert, Gregory, Sivert and Bedrick each added one hit. Gilbert led the Jags with three RBI and McPhearson added two.
 
The IUPUI softball team are now 10-29 overall and 6-8 in Horizon League play. The Jags and Mastodons will finish out the three-game series with one game tomorrow, Sunday, April 13 at 1:00 PM.