Feb. 9, 2002
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - The Purdue softball team and senior pitcher Meagan Dooley won today, 1-0, in its first no-hitter of the year at the Triple Crown Invitational in St. Augustine, Fla. The Boilermakers improve to 2-1 and the Ole Miss Rebels fall to 4-1.
"Today was an outstanding win for us," said Purdue head coach Carol Bruggeman. "Mississippi is a good team. But it was our defense today that really stood out. Meagan's no-hitter, although it wasn't pretty, was very effective. She got stronger as the game went on and during the last four innings, they weren't able to get any rallies. She really shut them down and did an excellent job on the mound today. The game was a really great pitching dual.
"We also can't forget Angela Knight who had a great steal that set us up to be able to pull the double-steal for (Andrea) Hillsey to score the game-winning run."
The game started out rather slowly, with both teams holding the no-hitter until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Boilermakers really came alive with the help of the Mississippi Rebels.
With junior clean-up batter Heidi Foster as the first batter to the plate, Purdue was looking for a big hit. Foster was unable to produce the hit needed for a base runner, but with just one out, freshman second baseman Andrea Hillsey followed with a hit that produced an error by the Rebel shortstop, allowing her on first.
Junior catcher Jesse Jones followed Hillsey and caused a second Rebel error with a sacrifice bunt that not only put Hillsey at second, but allowed her to advance to third. The bunt allowed pinch runner Angela Knight to take first for Jones and steal second. But while the Rebels were attempting to cutoff the throw down to second, Hillsey took off and headed home for the first Boilermaker score.
The Boilermakers would continue their rally in the bottom of the fifth, as junior centerfielder Andrea Roush hit a hard single to right centerfield. Knight rounded third and headed for home, but Ole Miss launched the cutoff throw from centerfield and held her on the bag, as Roush advanced to second.
Knight would stay at third, as Purdue tallied its last two outs of the inning and re-took the field for defense. The no-hitter for Ole Miss was over, but Purdue's Dooley was able to hold on through three more outs and headed to the top of the seventh inning.
Foster came up with a hard single up the middle with two outs, but again, the Boilermakers weren't able to add another run to the board.
Dooley finished off the game with four batters in the bottom of the seventh to capture her third career no-hitter and her first in two years. She earned the complete game, along with eight strikeouts and four walks. She improves to 1-0 on the year.
The Boilermakers will attempt to capture Coach Carol Bruggeman's 250th career coaching victory tonight when they return to the field at 7 p.m. for their game against Florida A&M.
Following tonight's game, the seeding of the tournament will take place and the Old Gold and Black will find out whether they will play at 9 or 11:30 a.m.
-P-