KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The international tie breaker did its job to break up a pitchers' duel between Purdue's Lilly Fecho and North Dakota State's Krista Menke in what ended up as a 3-0 win for the Bison.
Menke (10-1) held Purdue hitless, while recording 12 Ks in the win. Fecho (9-3) scattered five hits and struck out 10 batters through seven innings, before allowing three runs on three hits in the eighth.
Purdue had one base runner in the game as redshirt junior Katie Harrison drew a leadoff walk in the second. NDSU scattered five hits and stranded four runners in regulation.
With the runner placed on second to start the eighth inning, NDSU sacrificed her over to third, setting up a single by Logan Moreland which put the Bison on the board. Cheyenne Garcia followed with a double to left center to make it 2-0. Garcia went to third on the throw home and scored the next play on an Alyssa Reina single to left. Hampton caught Reina stealing to end the stanza.
Senior Ashley Burkhardt was placed on second in the Purdue half of the eighth, but the Boilermakers could not move her around the bases.
Purdue (11-6) returns to action at 4:45 p.m. against the Northern Iowa Panthers.