April 19, 2005
VALPARAISO, Ind. - After a nine-inning battle with Valparaiso in Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader, the Boilermaker softball team wound up with its first tie since the 2001 season and still one win away from its seventh-straight 30-win season. Darkness put an end to the 4-4 stalemate.
Senior Andrea Hillsey (White Lake, Mich.) drew a two-out walk in the opening stanza to give Purdue its first base runner in Game 2. A strikeout, however, left her stranded.
A one-out walk in the bottom of the third put Kelly Silvey on base for the Crusaders. Silvey then stole second with two outs, before a strikeout ended the inning.
Hillsey got on base again in the fourth, this time with a one-out double off that landed at the base of the wall in right center. A pop up and fly out kept her from making her way in to score.
Valpo got a baserunner in the bottom of the inning as Courtney LaFerle reached on a two-out walk. A ground ball to short left pinch runner Emily Tkaczyk stranded.
The Boilermakers broke the scoreless tie in the fifth inning with X runs on X hits. Junior Lauren Devich (Bloomington, Ind.) sent a one-out single through the left side, then moved to second on a Becky Stone (Belleville, Ill.) single that landed just in front of the diving right fielder. A fielder's choice put senior Katie Absher (Puyallup, Wash.) aboard, but saw pinch runner Jamie Dum (Indianapolis, Ind.) out at third. The Crusaders then intentionally walked senior Shelli Messer (Greenfield, Ind.) to bring junior Staci Falzon (Carlsbad, Calif.) to the plate. Falzon made Valpo pay with a bases-clearing double to right center. The hit prompted a pitching change for the Crusaders, who inserted Andrea Zappia on the mound in relief. The Boilermaker rally continued despite the change as Hillsey doubled to right to drive in Falzon. A pop up to short finally ended the inning.
The Crusaders ended Purdue's bid for a no-hitter in the bottom of the fifth. Stacy Adamski reached on a fielding error by the shortstop, before Shannon Robinson tallied the team's first hit with a fly ball that landed just inside the right field line. Adamski was out at third on a fielder's choice, but a throwing error by the third baseman allowed Robinson and the batter Silvey to advance into scoring position. Ann Sievert put Valpo on the board with two-run double. Sievert then scored on a Megan Carroll single up the middle. A sacrifice bunt moved Carroll to second, but she was caught trying to steal third shortly thereafter to end the stanza.
Valparaiso tied the game with one run on a walk, a hit and a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Beth Adamski led-off with a walk after the third baseman dropped a foul ball earlier in her at-bat. LaRiva reentered the game to pitch for Purdue, then pinch runner Maggie Seidel was sacrificed over to second and moved to third on a Taylor Callahan single to left. A sacrifice fly to center field scored Seidel to tie the game, before pinch runner Mallory Gill was tagged out trying to take second on the play.
Messer hit a two-out double in the seventh, but a strikeout left her stranded.
The Crusaders went down in order in the bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings. Neither team could muster a base runner in the eighth.
Sophomore Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) was hit by a pitch to open the ninth inning. Pinch runner Tiffany Krcelich (Granger, Ind.) moved to third on a sacrifice by Devich and a ground out to the pitcher. A ground ball to third base brought the Crusaders to bat one final time.
LaRiva struck out the first batter before coaxing the following two to hit the ball in the air to second baseman Andrea Hillsey and left fielder Staci Falzon.
The game was called as a 4-4 tie due to darkness. The tie was Purdue's first since its March 4, 2001, contest with Texas-Arlington ended in a 0-0 tie after eight innings.
The Boilermakers scored four runs on six hits, led by Hillsey's 2-for-3 day at the plate. Valparaiso managed their four runs on four hits and three Purdue miscues.
LaRiva struck out five in seven innings of work. Chris Halstead and Andrea Zappia split duties on the mound for Valpo, striking out six.
Purdue (29-17-1) returns to action at 3 p.m. on Friday when the Wisconsin Badgers come to town for conference play.