Feb. 13, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C. - The Purdue softball team made history in only its second game of 2004. With a thrilling 6-5 win over Campbell, the Boilermakers started the season 2-0 for the first time in the program's 11-year history and improved to 2-0 at the Triangle Classic tournament.
"We have had some great starts in the history of our program and we have always had a solid record in February and March, but never could start 2-0," head coach Carol Bruggeman said. "We have been telling our team to trust our preparation and put it to work; we did that today and were successful. It is a good way to start the year and hopefully we can build from here."
Freshman catcher Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) laid down a sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the sixth to give Purdue the victory. Freshman Katie Fortune (Houston, Texas) singled to center field to start the sixth and then advanced to second on a passed ball. Peterson then came to bat and put down the bunt, moving Fortune to third, but the pitcher overthrew first when fielding the ball, allowing Fortune to come in for the deciding run. CU pitcher Lexi Meyers dealt the next three Purdue batters outs via pop up, strike out and ground out, to set up her team's last effort. The Boilermakers sat the Camels down in order in the top of the seventh to seal the win.
The Boilermakers owned a 5-0 lead after three innings, thanks to a four-run first and the team's first home run of the season.
Freshman Tricia Lilley singled to left to start the game. Senior Angela Knight followed with a single up the middle and then advanced to second on the throw, moving Lilley to third. Junior Andrea Hillsey walked to load the bases, bringing up freshman DaQueta Johnson, who reached on an error by the third baseman to score Lilley. Knight then came around on a sacrifice fly to center by redshirt freshman Kristen Schell. Peterson then walked to load the bases. CU pitcher Kelly Weaver then walked sophomore Lauren Devich forcing Knight in from third. With two outs, Weaver then tossed a wild pitch while facing Staci Falzon to score Johnson from third.
Johnson continued her success at the plate in the bottom of the third, launching her first career home run, a solo shot, over the left field fence.
The Fighting Camels ended the shutout with a pair of runs on three hits in the top of the fourth. Megan Timpf opened the stanza with a single up the middle, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Erica Willis banged a triple into right field, putting Campbell on the board. Megan Paul then posted a two-out single up the middle to drive in Willis.
The Campbell offense struck again in the top of the sixth. Timpf again led things off with a single down the first base line. Kari Mills then doubled to center, to put runners at second and third for Willis. The left fielder again delivered on the RBI opportunity with another triple to right. Jessica Huffman kept the rally going with a double to center, which scored Willis. Starting pitcher Brooke Baker got the Camels to pop up and foul out before exiting the game for reliever Diana LaRiva. The Boilermakers caught Huffman trying to steal to end the inning.
"As any good team is going to do occasionally, we got a little satisfied with our 5-0 lead and Campbell came to life," Bruggeman said. "They came back and tied the game, but I was very proud of the way our team stayed very poised and didn't get rattled. One of our goals this year is not only to score first but to score last and we accomplished that in the seventh inning and held them.
"I thought Diana LaRiva was a real leader for us today through six-plus innings of shutout ball. I also thought DaQueta Johnson, Tricia Lilley, Shelli Messer and Katie Absher really stood out today as offensive threats in their own separate ways."
Purdue scored six runs on nine hits with one error, while Campbell had five runs on eight hits with one miscue. LaRiva earned her second victory of the day, striking out two in one and a third innings of relief. Kelly Weaver took the loss for CU.
With the victory, the Boilermakers upped their all-time record to 13-5 in the Triangle Classic, having also participated in the tournament in 1999, 2000 and 2001. By virtue of winning its three-team pool, Purdue is guaranteed a spot in the gold bracket, which is made up of the seven pool winners and three of the second place teams. The Boilermakers must now wait until the end of the day to find out who and when it will play on Saturday.