WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Friday's game was a scoreless pitcher's duel through seven innings, but Illinois scored four in the eighth to steal away the 4-0 win.
Breanna Wonderly (9-7) allowed just two hits and struck out six in the win for Illinois, while senior Lilly Fecho struck out three in the complete-game effort for the Boilermakers.
Illinois scored its four runs on 11 hits and a Purdue miscue, while the Boilermakers managed five base runners in the game, three on hit by pitches and two on singles by junior Kristen Hoppman and senior Mary Gooding.
The Illini started the game with a single and sacrificed the runner to second, but Fecho recorded her first K and forced a fly out to end the stanza.
Purdue forced Illinois to waste a pair of singles and a walk in the second, as freshman Lexi Huffman turned a double play on a liner to first base and a grounder to the pitcher capped the inning.
Sophomore catcher Kaylah Hampton erased an error in the fourth, gunning down the runner at second base. A ground ball to first base nullified a single later in the inning.
Purdue got its first base runner as Hampton was hit by a pitch with two outs in the fourth, but could not capitalize.
Hampton nabbed another would-be base stealer in the fifth, this time keeping the runner from taking third base after a single and hit batsman.
Huffman took a ball off the hip to give the Boilermakers another two-out base runner in the fifth, but a ground ball to the shortstop left her aboard.
Purdue threatened in the sixth, loading the bases on Hoppman's single to left center, Gooding's base knock to left and a two-out hit batsman that put senior Katie Harrison on base. A pop up on the infield kept the scoreless tie intact.
Illinois filled the base paths in the seventh with two singles and a walk, but the Boilermaker defense held.
After taking the Boilermakers in order in the seventh, Illinois mounted its offensive rally. Two singles and a hit by pitch loaded the bases with one away. An RBI single, a ground out to the shortstop and a two-run double accounted for the scores, which made it 4-0.
A strikeout and two ground outs in the bottom of the eighth gave Illinois the win.
The Boilermakers (23-19, 5-7 Big Ten) and Fighting Illini (24-17, 4-8 Big Ten) face off again at 3 p.m. Saturday.