IOWA CITY, Iowa - Purdue (14-39, 5-15 B1G) took down Iowa (20-29, 6-14 B1G) in its series opener at Bob Pearl Field. Sydney Bates tossed her 11th complete game of the season to earn the victory.
Following Iowa's one run in the first inning, Bates settled down to register six-straight scoreless frames to give Purdue the chance to win the game. The redshirt freshman was clutch throughout the contest, stranding nine Hawkeyes including six in scoring position. Bates struck out four batters and allowed just one walk while giving up eight hits.
Purdue made its comeback in the fourth inning, kickstarted by a leadoff walk by Stephanie Ramsey and a single by Jenny Behan to give the Boilermakers two on with nobody out. Three batters later, Madison Douglass gave the Boilermakers the lead with a double to center scoring Ramsey and Behan.
After giving up the lead, Iowa struggled to find the zone, hitting Alexa Binckes and giving up back-to-back walks to Rachel Krzysko and Mallory Baker allowing Douglass to score. Three Boilermakers accounted for all seven of Purdue's hits in the game as Douglass and Ryleigh Scott finished 2-for-3 and 2-for-4 respectively while Behan went 3-for-4 at the dish.
The fight for the Big Ten Tournament is becoming interesting as Penn State stunned Minnesota 2-1 in extra innings and Rutgers swept a doubleheader with Indiana. Now, Purdue has the final spot in the tournament with Penn State knocking on the door with a 5-16 record. Rutgers can finish the season 5-15 with a win in its season finale against Indiana.
Purdue and Iowa square off in game two of their series Saturday at 3 p.m. ET at Iowa's Bob Pearl Field.
