March 14, 2009
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Sophomore Suzie Rzegocki dominated the No. 18 Texas A&M Aggies Friday afternoon, striking out a career-high 11 and allowing just two hits in Purdue's 3-1 victory. The win is the Boilermakers' second over a Top 25 team this season, following a season-opening victory over No. 4 UCLA. The pair of Top 25 wins mark the first time Purdue has knocked off two ranked foes in the same season since 2000.
For its part, the Boilermaker offense posted three runs on seven hits and two errors. Junior Liane Horiuchi went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, while senior Kelly Miller registered a 2-for-3 effort with a run scored.
Rzegocki moved to 10-2 on the year with her 11-strikeout effort in the complete-game victory, while Rhiannon Kliesing was saddled with the loss for Texas A&M.
Horiuchi bounced a double off the left center wall to start the Purdue half of the first, then stole third. Senior Katie Mitchell earned a two-out walk, but a pop up left both stranded.
A hit by pitch and a sacrifice gave A&M a runner in scoring position in the second, but a pair of strikeouts kept her from scoring.
A walk, stolen base and wild pitch put an Aggie runner on third in the third inning, but a pop up got Purdue out of the inning unscathed.
Horiuchi hit a one-out single in the third, but a fielder's choice and strikeout kept the game scoreless.
Texas A&M threatened in the fourth, loading the bases on a pair of hit-by-pitch plays and a walk, but the Boilermaker defense forced a ground ball to escape the jam.
Purdue had another RBI opportunity in the fourth, but could not convert. Mitchell and freshman Molly Garst awaited at first and second with one out after a walk and a fielding error, but a strikeout and fielder's choice left the game at 0-0.
The Boilermakers finally broke through with a run on two hits in the fifth. Miller poked a single up the middle to start the inning, then Horiuchi was hit by a pitch to put two aboard with nobody out. Mitchell then snapped the shutout with a solid two-out single to left, bringing Miller home and pushing Horiuchi to third. A close play at first on a sharp ground ball prevented the Boilermakers from adding any further runs in the stanza.
The Aggies broke up the no-no with a sixth-inning seeing-eye single through the left side, but a fly ball and strikeout squelched the scoring threat.
Purdue pushed its advantage to 3-0 with two runs on three hits in the sixth. Garst lasered a leadoff single at the shortstop. The ball then deflected off the shortstop into left field allowing Garst to go to second on the play. A sacrifice pushed Garst to third, then junior Ashley Barr and Miller followed with infield singles to fill the basepaths. Horiuchi was hit by a pitch to plate a run, then senior Candace Curtis supplied a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
Andrea Tovar kept hope alive for the Aggies, leading off the seventh with a single to right. A fielding error by the Boilermakers put another runner on and allowed Tovar to move to third. A walk loaded the bases for Texas A&M with nobody out. A strikeout aided the Purdue defense. A ground ball to second base accounted for the second out of the stanza, but allowed a run to score. Rzegocki wrapped up the win with her 11th strikeout of the contest.
Purdue (12-5) returns to action at 8 p.m. when the team faces off with Rutgers.