STOCKTON, Calif. -- An unearned run in the seventh inning was the difference in a contest between two of the top pitchers in the country Friday morning. Cal Poly won the game 3-2 behind Sierra Hyland, who led the nation in strikeouts entering the day, and her 11 K's. Senior Lilly Fecho, who ranked 11th nationally in punchouts, recorded five in the loss.
Purdue scored its two runs on five hits and an error, led by senior Mary Gooding's two-hit effort. Cal Poly managed its three runs on six hits and two Boilermaker miscues.
Gooding tallied the game's first hit with a one-out single to left in the first, but could not score.
The Boilermakers threatened in the third, putting two runners in scoring position. Hampton led off the inning by taking a pitch in the foot. She went to third on a Gooding single to center. Gooding wound up at second on a throw home, which kept the scoreboard blank.
Purdue cashed in on a Cal Poly error for a run in the fourth. A wild pitch moved pinch runner Sydney Pencek to second. A fielding error by the second baseman allowed Pencek to come home and put freshman Lexi Huffman on second. A grounder pushed Huffman to third, then freshman Heather Knight joined her on base with a pinch hit walk, but the Boilermakers could not add to the 1-0 lead.
Freshman Lauren Stewart led off the fifth with a double off the center field wall and came home two batters later on an infield grounder to make it 2-0.
Cal Poly got its first hit with a leadoff single in the fifth, but the Boilermakers sat the next three batters down in order to waste the hit.
Senior Paris Andrew, who hails from nearby Modesto, California, tallied a two-out single in the sixth, but Purdue was unable bring her in to score.
Cal Poly knotted the score in the sixth with two runs on three hits in the bottom of the inning. A pair of singles and a sacrifice put runners at the corners with one out. A Courtney Tyler double up the right field line took a wicked hop into foul territory after landing, allowing both runners to score. The Boilermaker defense forced the Mustangs to strand two on base with a pair of ground outs.
The Boilermakers put two aboard in the seventh via two-out walks to Gooding and senior Katie Harrison, but a strikeout ended the inning.
The Mustangs clinched the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh. A fielder's choice erased a one-out single, but that runner then swiped second and advanced to third on an error, setting the table for the game-winning RBI single to left field.
The Boilermakers (6-4) return to action at 5:30 p.m. ET vs. Pacific.