Feb. 11, 2006
BOCA RATON, Fla. - A seventh-inning East Carolina rally broke a scoreless tie in what was a true pitchers' dual between the Boilermaker softball team and the Pirates on Saturday. The Pirates won the game 3-1 dropping Purdue to 2-2 on the season.
ECU put runners at the corners in the opening stanza with a pair of singles and a sacrifice, but junior pitcher Brooke Baker (Schererville, Ind.) worked herself out of the jam striking out the next two batters to end the inning.
Junior Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) tallied Purdue's first hit of the game with a one-out single to short center field in the third inning, but she was caught stealing two plays later to end the stanza.
With two outs in the fifth, junior DaQueta Johnson (Ontario, Calif.) sent a high flyer into deep right center field that landed on the warning track for her first career triple. A strikeout left her stranded.
Peterson led off the sixth with a walk, then freshman Christina Trauger (Santa Rosa, Calif.) stole second, putting a runner in scoring position with two outs. Senior Becky Stone (Belleville, Ill.) then singled to left center, pushing Trauger over to third. Stone advanced to second on the play as the Pirates threw home to prevent a run. A deep fly ball to the wall was caught by the left fielder to end the inning.
The Pirates broke the scoreless tie with three runs on three hits in the seventh inning. Jessica Johnson led off the inning with a double to right. She was then joined on base by Alison Monce who drew a one-out walk. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch. A fielder's choice put Beth Nolan on and scored pinch runner Sarah Bibee, who slid under the tag at home. An Ashley Quick double up the right field line made it 3-0 in favor of ECU. Quick was out on the following play as she ran into shortstop Tricia Lilley as she fielded the ball.
Johnson kept hope alive for the Boilermakers with a two-out single to right center. A double to the left center wall by freshman Katie Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) scored pinch runner Catherine Zaworski (Prospect Heights, Ill.) from third the following play to put Purdue on the board. Peterson joined Mitchell aboard via walk. A strikeout left both runners on and sealed the Pirate victory.
Purdue scored one run on five hits, led by Johnson's 2-for-3 day at the plate. East Carolina scored three runs on seven hits.
Keli Harrell (2-0) earned the victory for the Pirates, while Baker (0-2) was saddled with the loss for the Boilermakers, despite striking out a career-high tying nine batters.
"I thought Brooke threw a very good game," head coach Kim Maher said. "In the first game, Diana did a good job of digging deep and finishing the game. Pitchers like Brooke and Diana can keep you in the game, but they can't win it for you if you aren't scoring. We need to do better offensively.
"We need our batters go to the plate with an agenda, get into a groove and relax. On the positive side, we made some things happen today with hit and runs and steals and our defense did a better job of finishing plays. All of the players who came in off the bench on both offense and defense also did a good job. It was a whole team effort."
The Boilermakers return to action at 11 a.m. on Sunday when they face host Florida Atlantic in the third-place game.