CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A four-run first inning for Purdue (15-25, 4-4 B1G) proved not enough to tie the series at one game apiece as Illinois (26-10, 6-2 B1G) responded with 11 unanswered runs to earn the 11-4 victory. Mallory Baker and Brooke Perry were each essential in Purdue's offensive showing in Saturday's contest at Eichelberger Field.
Baker extended her hitting streak to 14 games and raised her overall batting average to a team-leading .397 with her two-hit performance. Of the 14 games, eight have been against Big Ten opponents and with today's effort the sophomore out of Greenwood, Indiana is now hitting .522 against conference opponents with 12 hits in 23 at-bats.
Perry continues to swing a hot bat in conference play as she launched the first home run of her career against the Illini. With the homer, the freshman now owns a .273 batting average in conference play.
The Boilermakers kicked off the contest with each of their first four hitters reaching base and all of which scored except for Maya Hughes who was thrown out on a close play as she was trying to steal second base. Kaylah Hampton capped off a streak of three-consecutive hits for the Boilermakers to drive in the first run of the ballgame with a double. With runners on second and third and one down, Lexi Huffman sent a grounder to the right side to drive in a run.
The grounder ultimately set up Perry's two-run blast that lifted Purdue to a 4-0 advantage and brought an end to Taylor Edward's day. Going into today's game, Illinois' Edwards had been one of the best pitchers in the Big Ten with an 11-1 record and a 2.10 ERA.
However, with the end of Edward's day came an opportunity for Breanna Wonderly to shine again and stop the bleeding. Game one's winning pitcher did just that as she threw 6.1 innings of work without allowing a run, giving Illinois a chance to make a comeback.
The Illini responded with a run in each of the first four innings to tie the game and then used seven runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings to distance themselves from the Boilermakers and seal the victory.
Game 3 of Purdue's first Big Ten road trip in 2017 is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
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