March 4, 2004
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Boilermaker softball team held Long Island to a single run, while posting 10 hits en route to a 7-1 victory over the Blackbirds to start the squad's time at the Speedline Invitational.
"This was a nice way to start the tournament," head coach Carol Bruggeman said. "I thought we were very solid. Brooke Baker had a very solid, complete game performance. She threw a lot of strikes, while working under some very adverse conditions, in terms of some calls and things that didn't go our way early. She really fought through that well and still pitched a very good game. We were led at the plate by Tricia Lilley and Staci Falzon, but really we hit through the lineup."
Purdue combined a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt to drive in the game's first run in the opening stanza. Lilley led things off with a single into left field, then moved to second on a Angela Knight sacrifice. Junior Andrea Hillsey then drove a solid ball up the middle for a single, bringing Lilley in to score. A fly out and pop out stranded Hillsey at second.
Long Island answered in the bottom of the inning with an identical scoring summary. Leah Glenn singled to short, then advanced on a Holly Erwin sacrifice bunt. Briana Mathiesen then singled up the middle to drive in the run.
The Boilermakers scored the winning run in the top of the third as Lilley, Knight and freshman DaQueta Johnson strung together a pair of hits and a sacrifice. Lilley again led off with a single to left, then Knight moved her over with the sac, and a wild pitch put her on third. Johnson followed with a strong shot up the third baseline to put Purdue ahead for good.
Another run came in the fourth as pitcher Jessica Busick walked Lilley with the bases loaded. Falzon singled to open the inning, then moved to third on a wild pitch and a Shelli Messer sacrifice. Freshman Erika Peterson was hit by a pitch, then pinch runner Jamie Dum stole second to leave a hole at first. Sophomore Katie Absher filled it when she reached on an error by the pitcher, then Lilley was walked to give Purdue a 3-1 advantage. A pair of fielder's choices got LIU out of the inning without further damage.
Purdue tacked on three more in the fifth on a trio of hits. Redshirt sophomore Kristen Schell gave the Boilermakers a runner with a one-out triple to right. A Falzon single up the first baseline scored pinch runner Cheryl Buergler. Messer then singled, giving Purdue runners at first and second, then relief pitcher Chelsea Crosby hit freshman Katie Fortune to score Falzon from third. Lilley then lifted a sacrifice fly into left field to cap the inning as Messer scored. Knight was hit by a pitch, loading the bases again, but this time a line out stranded the runners.
The Boilermakers capped the scoring with a single run in the top of the seventh. Freshman Catherine Zaworski walked to start the stanza, then moved to second on a sacrifice by Absher. The Blackbirds brought in Jackie Brown to pitch to Lilley, who then doubled down the left field line to drive in the game's final run.
Purdue scored seven runs on 10 hits, while Long Island tallied one run on five hits. Each team committed an error. Lilley went 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBI, as six Boilermakers got in on the offensive action.
Freshman Brooke Baker (3-1) struck out four in the complete game winning effort, while Busick was charged with the loss after four-and-one third innings of work.
Next up, the Boilermakers face the Ole Miss Rebels at 5 p.m.