EVANSTON, Ill. - Purdue (17-30, 6-9 B1G) got out to a hot start but a late surge of offense by Northwestern (18-23, 4-9 B1G) in the final two innings of play was enough to put the Boilermakers away 12-4 on Friday at Drysdale Field. After taking a 3-2 lead into the fifth, the Wildcats outscored the Boilermakers 10-1 to take game one of the series in six innings.
Lexi Valone launched the first home run of her career in her lone at-bat of the game while Kristin Hoppman registered a two-for-four day with a pair of stolen bases and a run scored. Hoppman is now has a hit in 12 of her last 14 games with nine hits in 20 at-bats in Big Ten road games. The two stolen bases on the day give her a Big Ten-best 24 on the season.
Purdue jumped out to a two-run lead early, taking advantage of an error and a dropped third strike that led to a two-out double by Lexi Huffman off the wall in center to drive in Hoppman and Mallory Baker. Kaitlynn Moody was given the nod and began the game with back-to-back scoreless frames, allowing the Boilermakers to take a 3-0 lead thanks to the two-out solo homer by Valone.
The Wildcats responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to pull within one and after a scoreless fourth, Northwestern added four more to take a 6-3 lead. However, the three run deficit wouldn't last long as Katie Johnson delivered a single through the right side to score Kaylah Hampton after she reached on an error to begin the inning.
Despite Purdue's push in the top of the sixth, Northwestern continued to swing a hot bat in the bottom of the inning as it scored six runs to defeat the Boilermakers in six innings.
Game two of the series is slated for Saturday, April 21 at 2 p.m. ET at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
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