March 12, 2005
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Both Purdue and BYU tallied six hits in the open round of bracket play on Saturday, but it was the Cougars who ended the game with a 5-2 victory. The Boilermakers wrap up the Speedline Invitational with a 9 a.m. Sunday contest against Central Florida.
Purdue tallied the first hit of the game as junior Staci Falzon (Carlsbad, Calif.) posted a lead-off single to left. She moved to second on a ground ball, but a pop up left her stranded.
The Cougars put up two runs on one hit in the bottom of the inning. Lauren Perry walked to start the stanza, then Krystle Chamberlain single to short left field. The runners pulled off a double steal, before Paige Paramore reached on a fielder's choice, scoring Perry, who slid under the tag at home. Neta Le'i walked to load the bases again. Jenn Whiteley then reached on a one-out fielder's choice, which saw Chamberlain tagged out at the plate. Ariel Capra drew an RBI walk, before a ground ball got Purdue out of the inning.
BYU put another runner in scoring position in the second, but the Boilermakers kept them off the scoreboard.
The Boilermakers got one run back on a sacrifice fly in the third inning. Sophomore Katie Fortune (Kingwood, Texas) led off with a single up the middle. With one away, Falzon reached on a fielder's choice that saw the shortstop overthrow second base attempting to put out pinch runner Jamie Dum (Indianapolis, Ind.), allowing both runners to move into scoring position. Freshman Ashley Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) then supplied the deep fly ball to right that scored the run. Another fly ball ended the inning.
The Cougars tacked on three runs on three hits in the fourth. Capra singled to left to start the rally, then moved to second on a sacrifice. Perry hit a two-out singled into left and advanced to second as Capra scored. Chamberlain walked to join Perry on base, then Paramore doubled into right field to drive in both runners.
The Boilermakers put two runners on in the fifth, but couldn't convert them into runs. Fortune singled up the middle, then sophomore Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) followed with a single to left, but a pair of strikeouts stranded them.
Ashlyn Russell singled up the middle to start off the fifth inning, then moved to second on a single by Capra. A fielder's choice accounted for the second out and a strikeout left runners stranded at first and third.
Senior Andrea Hillsey (White Lake, Mich.) singled to open the sixth, but a trio of ground balls kept her from making it around the base paths.
Sophomore DaQueta Johnson (Ontario, Calif.) hit a solo home run on the first pitch she saw in the seventh inning to make it 5-2, but that was all the offense Purdue could muster.
"Once we put all three phases of our game together, we are going to be a tough team to beat," head coach Carol Bruggeman said.
Fortune went 2-for-3 in the game, while four other players added hits. BYU scored five runs on six hits and an error.
Brooke Boyce picked up the win for BYU after tossing 4 1/3 innings, while sophomore Brooke Baker (Schererville, Ind.) was charged with the loss for Purdue after four innings on the mound.
Purdue (13-11) wraps up the Speedline Invitational with a 9 a.m. contest against Central Florida.