Feb. 7, 2003
The Boilermakers piled on eight runs in the final two innings, including a three-run walk off home run by senior Andrea Roush, to clinch a 10-2 mercy rule victory over the University of Central Florida Friday afternoon. The win pulls the team to 1-1 on the season after a 3-0 loss to Southern Illinois earlier in the day.
Head coach Carol Bruggeman said it wasn't just the Purdue bats that impressed her in the team's first day of action.
"We had zero errors on defense today and I am ecstatic about that statistic," Bruggeman said. "If we can play solid defense, we are going to be in a lot of games. I was also pleased with our offensive performance overall, especially in game two. In game one, I have to give Southern Illinois a lot of credit because they had two two-out hits that really hurt us, otherwise the game was pretty even. In game two, we came up with a lot of big hits. Obviously the exciting balls were the home run by Laura Martin and the walk-off by Andrea Roush, but we also had a lot of singles, bunt executions and stolen bases. Game two was a really nice complete game to have on the first day of the season. To end day one on a walk-off home run and a run rule is pretty exciting."
Freshman shortstop Tricia Lilley opened the game with a double to center field and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by second baseman Andrea Hillsey. Senior Jesse Jones knocked Lilley in on a single to the pitcher. The hitting continued in the second inning as senior Laura Martin led off the inning with a rocket over the left field fence.
The Golden Knights tied it up at two all with a two-run, three hit fourth inning. Freshman pitcher Diana LaRiva walked Nikki Green to open the inning, then Stephanie Best doubled to left field to move Green to third. Pitcher Dottie Cupp drove in Green with an RBI single and Best advanced to third on the play, but got caught in a run down when she tried to turn home. Pysha Simmons then tallied an RBI double up the middle scoring Cupp.
UCF gave Purdue a free base runner as Cupp hit catcher/third baseman Jesse Jones, moving the senior's school record walk total to 63. Senior center fielder Andrea Roush doubled and advanced to third as Jones crossed the plate for the game-winner. Martin added an RBI to her tally with a single to drive in Roush.
The Golden Knights stranded two more runners in the sixth inning, bringing their total to six in the game and opening the door for the Purdue rally. Freshman Staci Falzon started things off for the Boilermakers with a single. Lilley reached on an error by the pitcher moving Falzon to second. Senior Angi Roembke landed on the base paths care of a fielder's choice and pushed Lilley and Falzon into scoring position. Hillsey tallied her first RBI of the season with a three-run double to left field. Jones posted her second walk of the game, but wasn't on base for long as Roush launched a three-run shot to left to clinch the mercy rule win for the Boilermakers.
"It looked pretty darn good, so I just swung at it," Roush said of the game's final pitch. "I didn't know it was going to go that far. It felt pretty good, because I had a slow start personally. I have never had a walk-off before so that was pretty fun."
The Boilermakers (1-1) will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in a double-header beginning at 11:15 a.m. Saturday. The first game rounds out pool play, while the second game marks the beginning of action in the championship bracket. Bruggeman said the Jayhawks will offer some different challeges.
"I think any team in the Big 12 Conference is going to be competitive, so we are going to have to play our best softball" she said. "Kansas may be young, but they are very talented. The most important thing that they have is their pitching staff from last year in tact. They are going to throw strikes, so we are going to have to hit the ball to be successful. But, I think if we do hit the ball, we should be right in the game with them. We are looking forward to the opportunity and to starting the championship part of this tournament."