Feb. 12, 2006
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Boilermaker softball team earned third place in the Florida Atlantic Worth Invitational with a 4-3 come-from-behind win over the host Owls on Sunday morning. Purdue trailed 3-0 after five innings before mounting the late-inning comeback.
Senior Tricia Lilley (North Canton, Ohio) tallied the game's first hit with a two-out infield single in the top of the second. She then stole second but was left stranded by a ground ball.
The Owls broke onto the scoreboard in the bottom of the inning with three runs on four hits. Shauna Corso led off with a single, then moved to second on a sacrifice. A sharply hit single through the left side by Danielle Arriaga drove in the first run of the game. Christi Houghtaling score Arriaga with a double to left. She advanced to third on a Becky Brandies single up the middle, then scored on an illegal pitch. Brandies was caught stealing, before a ground ball ended the inning.
FAU threatened again in the third, loading the bases on a fielder's choice, a double and walk, but could not score. Senior Diana LaRiva took over on the mound with the bases full and two outs, and struck out the next batter looking to get the Boilermakers out of the jam.
Lilley got on base again in the fifth inning with a lead-off double to deep center. A wild pitch moved her to third, but two strikeouts and a ground ball kept her from scoring.
The Boilermakers ended FAU's shutout bid with a pair of runs on three hits in the sixth. Freshman Katie Mitchell (Crown Point, Ind.) sent a two-out single through the left side to start the rally. She then moved to second as junior DaQueta Johnson (Ontario, Calif.) reached on a fielding error by the shortstop. A wild pitch put Mitchell on third and advanced pinch runner Christina Trauger (Santa Rosa, Calif.) to second. A Staci Falzon (Carlsbad, Calif.) single to right drove in Mitchell, putting runners at the corners for Lilley. The senior delivered with a single to left, scoring Trauger from third. A grounder to first base wrapped up the stanza.
Purdue tied it up in the top of the seventh with a single swing of the bat as junior Erika Peterson (Irvine, Calif.) led off the inning with a solo home run just inside the left field foul pole. Sophomore Ashley Hall (Noblesville, Ind.) followed with a one-out triple into the right center gap. Sophomore Tiffany Krcelich (Granger, Ind.) picked up the RBI on the go-ahead run with a grounder to the shortstop. Another ground ball ended the inning with Purdue boasting a 4-3 advantage.
The Boilermaker defense came through in the bottom of the seventh to seal the game. The Owls put a runner on via walk with two outs in the inning, but LaRiva chalked up her sixth strike out of the game to protect the win.
Purdue scored four runs on seven hits, led by a 3-for-3 effort by Lilley. LaRiva earned the victory on the mound, striking out six, while allowing just one hit in four and a third innings of relief.
"This was a great way to end the weekend," head coach Kim Maher said. "We made things happen out here. We focused on all the little things, not on scoring five runs. We got base hits, and our hit and runs, steals and bunts were working. Our players finally got to the point of having better at-bats, making adjustments to the wind and the umpire's strike zone.
"Diana did a good job of keeping the FAU hitters, who are big swingers, off balance. She shut them down, which allowed us to chip away on offense."
The Boilermakers return to action on Friday, Feb. 17, when they take on New Mexico at the UNLV Desert Classic in Las Vegas.