The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Purdue
Rebels Split a Pair at Speedline Invitational
3/6/2003 | Softball
March 6, 2003
Pitt Box Score | Purdue Box Score
PLANT CITY, Fla. - Lindsay Price tossed her first shutout of the year and helped Ole Miss split a pair of games Thursday in day one of the Speedline Invitational. The Rebels shut down Pittsburgh, 4-0, and dropped a back-and-forth battle with Purdue, 7-5.
Friday's slate pits Ole Miss (6-8) against Temple at 10 a.m. ET and Central Michigan at noon.
In the Rebels' tournament opener against Pitt, Price (3-4) notched her third career shutout and first since the 2001 season. The senior from Terry, Miss., limited the Panthers (4-6) to four hits while striking out seven. Nikki Gasti (2-4) went the distance in the loss.
Ole Miss took a 1-0 lead in the third inning, as Jordan Chitwood singled and eventually reached home on a misfielded Jenny Cox sac bunt attempt.
Chitwood, a freshman from Chandler, Ariz., plated another score in the seventh inning as part of a game-clinching, three-run rally. Chitwood walked and stole second base, third and home. Fellow freshman Rebecca McIntire followed with a two-run single that chased in Cox and pinch-runner Britte Hardy.
The next game was an offensive war between the Rebels and Boilermakers, with Ole Miss jumping ahead early. Mandy Ott and Desiree Layman notched back-to-back singles in the first inning, and Stacy McCommon singled and eventually stole home in the second inning for a 3-0 Rebel lead.
Purdue (6-10) used two UM errors to plate a pair of runs in the third inning, and Heidi Foster and Andrea Roush drove in two more in the top of the fifth for a 4-3 PU advantage.
Ole Miss immediately responded with two in the bottom of the frame to retake the lead. Ott, a freshman from Hillsboro, Ore., recorded her second RBI-single in the game, and with two outs, McIntire struck again with another run-scoring single.
However, the Boilermakers managed two more runs in the top of the sixth to go ahead for good, 6-5. A Tricia Lilley solo home run was the key blow.
Leighann Burke (5-5) tossed five innings in the win for Purdue, and Diana LaRiva registered her second save of the year. Ole Miss hurler Leslie Day (3-1) suffered her first loss of the season, surrendering six runs, though only three earned, over 5.2 innings. Price finished the game in relief.
Despite nursing a sore back, sophomore Brooke Turner batted 4-for-7 on the day with a double and three bunt singles.
Ole Miss 4, Pittsburgh 0 (Mar 06, 2003 at Plant City, Fla.)----------------------------------------------------------------------Ole Miss........001 000 3 - 4 7 1 (6-7)Pittsburgh......000 000 0 - 0 4 1 (4-6)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Ole Miss - Price. Pittsburgh - Gasti.Win-Price(3-4) Loss-Gasti(2-4) T-2:19 A-89
Purdue 7, Ole Miss 5 (Mar 06, 2003 at Plant City, Fla.)----------------------------------------------------------------------Purdue......... 002 022 1 - 7 9 0 (6-10)Ole Miss....... 210 020 0 - 5 8 4 (6-8)----------------------------------------------------------------------Pitchers: Purdue - Burke, L.; LaRiva, D.(6). Ole Miss - Day; Price(6).Win-Burke, L.(5-5) Save-LaRiva, D.(2) Loss-Day(3-1) T-2:15 A-137HR: PUR - Lilley, T..
