March 26, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker softball team needed just five innings to put out the Illinois-Chicago Flames in Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader at the Varsity Softball Complex. The 8-0 win tied the school record for most consecutive wins (10), while delivering the team's seventh straight shutout and head coach Carol Bruggeman her 300th career victory.
"To me, reaching 300 wins means that I have been blessed to coach a lot of very talented student-athletes, who have bought into the system at Purdue," Bruggeman said. "It also means that I have had a very loyal staff. I have to give credit to all of my assistant coaches. Coach Connoyer has been with me for seven years and has probably been here for at least 200 wins. I have been surrounded by great people who make things happen."
After taking down the Flames' first three batters, the Boilermakers got a rally started in the first inning. Freshman Tricia Lilley, the Big Ten Player of the Week, tallied a lead-off double to center field. Senior Angi Roembke followed with a bunt single, pushing Lilley to third. She then stole second, putting both runners in scoring position for sophomore Andrea Hillsey. Hillsey answered the RBI time call with a two-run single up the middle and advanced to second on the throw. Senior Jesse Jones singled to center, moving Hillsey to third for senior Andrea Roush. Roush bunted, but the single was good enough to drive in the Boilermakers' third run of the day.
Purdue took advantage of a UIC error in scoring its fourth run of the day, in the second inning. Junior Angela Knight singled to right, stole second and advanced to third on a ground ball to the pitcher. Hillsey then hit a grounder to the second baseman who bobbled the ball, allowing Knight to score. Hillsey stole second but was left stranded after pitcher Brittany McIntyre tallied her first strikeout of the game.
The Boilermakers duplicated their first run rally in the third with three runs on four hits. Roush singled down the right field line before stealing second and moving to third on a ground out. Redshirt freshman Kristen Schell drove in the run with a single just past the second baseman. The bottom of the lineup continued to deliver as Knight doubled down the left line from the nine spot. Lilley then tallied a pair of RBI with a single into center field.
The bottom of the fourth saw a unique sight as senior Heidi Foster snapped her aluminum bat in half, fouling off the top half of the bat as well as the ball down the third base line. She continued on with the at-bat and wound up with a free pass from relief pitcher Alycia Creese. The walk gave the Boilermakers two aboard as Hillsey had reached with a single through the left side. Jones followed with an RBI single to left center to cap Purdue's scoring.
"I have never seen a metal bat break on a play before," 10th year coach Bruggeman said. "We were lucky that no one got hurt, because the broken end was a sharp as a knife. But Heidi came back from it and battled and ended up walking."
The Old Gold and Black had not allowed a hit going into the top of the fifth. The outing stayed perfect through two batters with a pair of strikeouts, Burke's fifth and sixth on the day, but UIC was determined to break through into the hit column. Center fielder Cameron Astiazaran played the role of spoiler with a single that snuck through a hole in the right side. With the damage done, Joyce Cathey grounded out to end the game.
Purdue scored eight runs on 12 hits and one error, while allowing just one hit for Burke's 10th career one-hitter. With the win, Burke moves to 13-6 on the season, including three one-hitters and a no-hitter in the last week and a half. The Boilermakers have tallied double figure hits in six of their last 10 outings.