March 6, 2003
TAMPA, Fla. - PLANT CITY, Fla. - The team called on character and determination, tallying a 7-5 come-from-behind win over Mississippi and evening its record at the Speedline Invitational at 1-1.
Purdue trailed 5-4 entering the sixth inning, but put together two runs on three hits to clinch the win. With two outs, freshman Tricia Lilley hit a solo home run to left field, her fourth of the season, to tie the game and spark another string of Purdue hits. Senior Angi Roembke then singled to shortstop and stole second before coming home on a sophomore Andrea Hillsey double to left.
The Boilermakers scored an insurance run in the seventh inning in dramatic fashion. Sophomore Shelli Messer tallied a two-out single to left field to lead things off. Redshirt freshman Kristen Schell then singled down the right field line. Messer rounded second and was sliding into third when the right fielder overthrew the base. During the third baseman's attempt to get the ball, her knee collided with Messer's head, as she was sliding into the base, injuring Messer. The overthrown ball rolled into the dugout, which results in an extra base for each runner, thus Messer was awarded home. However, due to the injury, Messer was unable to reach home and freshman Lauren Devich had to pinch run from third to home to score the run. Schell ended up on third on the play and wound up stranded after a pop up to the first baseman.
Devich also took Messer's place at third base in the bottom of the seventh as Purdue ended the game four batters later. Reliever Diana LaRiva walked DeDe Justice to start the inning, but struck out Andrea Brahs to put the first out on the board. A fly out and a pop up clinched the game for Purdue.
Ole Miss scored first on a Mandy Ott RBI single which scored Brooke Turner from third. Turner singled to open the Rebels' half of the first and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a passed ball. Justice walked and stole second leading to the Ott hit. Justice scored from third on a Desiree Layman single up the middle.
The Rebels struck again in the second, garnering a run on an error by the Purdue catcher. Stacy McCommon singled to right field to start things off and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and third on a wild pitch. Pitcher Leighann Burke hit Turner to give Ole Miss two base runners. Turner stole second and McCommon scored as the catcher overthrew second trying to catch Turner stealing.
Purdue took the lead at 4-3 with two runs in the third and two in the fifth. The third inning featured a hit, a fielder's choice, a walk and two errors. Angela Knight walked to open the inning. Lilley reached base on an error by the shortstop, giving Purdue runners at first and second for Roembke. The senior tapped a fielder's choice to the pitcher who overthrew third trying to punch out Knight. Both Knight and Lilley scored on the play and Roembke wound up on second. The Boilermakers nearly scored again as Roembke was called out at home on a fielder's choice by Andrea Roush.
In the fifth inning, Roembke reached base on a dropped ball by the first baseman. Hillsey singled to short and senior Heidi Foster hit a long double to left field to drive in the tying run. Roush hit a sacrifice fly to score Hillsey from third and put Purdue on top.
The Old Gold and Black scored seven runs on nine hits, while committing one error. Mississippi had five runs on eight hits and four errors in the losing effort. Burke (5-5) tabbed the win and LaRiva recorded her second save of the season. Leslie Day (3-1) took the loss for Ole Miss, which dropped to 6-8 on the year.
Hillsey led the Boilermakers, going 3-for-4 with two singles and a double. Six different players tallied hits for Purdue.
"The first game was very disappointing," head coach Carol Bruggeman said. "I felt our effort was very poor. Central Michigan really didn't beat us, we gave them the game. We certainly missed Jesse Jones, our captain and leader, inspirationally more than anything else. The second game, on the other hand, was one of our better effort games. It was a back-and-forth game with lots of runs scored and lots of balls in play. I was very proud of our team's character, heart and attitude to come back and beat Ole Miss, who is a very good team. It was good to see us bounce back so quickly, but tomorrow our goal is to get two wins."
Next up, Purdue (6-10) will face Pittsburgh and Pacific in games at noon and 2 p.m. respectively.