Boca Raton, Fla. - Sophomore right fielder Tessa Ziemba (Wilmington, Del.) hit her first career grand slam to break a scoreless tie and send the Hofstra Softball team on its way to a 7-2 win over Purdue on the second day of the Florida Atlantic Invitational on Saturday.

With the win, the Pride improves to 9-7 on the year, including 3-0 at the FAU Invitational this weekend with wins over Middle Tennessee State and Michigan State yesterday. Purdue slips to 14-5 on the year with the loss.

Hofstra broke open a tie game in the third inning by loading the bases for Ziemba with one out. Senior third baseman Krista Thorn (Smithtown, N.Y.) led off with an infield single, and walks to freshman designated player Tori Rocha (Rehoboth, Mass.) and junior second baseman Jess Hirschbuhl (Jamison, Pa.) put three runners on with one out. Ziemba then followed with her second homer in as many days, as she cleared the center field wall with her first career grand slam.

The Pride tacked on another run right afterward, as senior first baseman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, Pa.) doubled into the left-center field gap, and sophomore left fielder Becca Bigler (Bainbridge, Pa.) followed with a single through the right side, stretching the lead to 5-0 and knocking Purdue starter Suzie Rzegocki from the game.

The Boilermakers got two of the runs back in the top of the fourth inning on three doubles. Shortstop Molly Garst led off the inning with a double, and was immediately followed by an RBI double from right fielder Andie Varsho. One out later, designated player Shelby Krammer tacked on another double to pull Purdue within 5-2.

Garst then led off the sixth with a single and stole second, but senior shortstop Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, Ohio) forced her out on a grounder and Galati struck out two batters to stop any Purdue rallies from forming. The Pride then picked up two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run triple from Hirschbuhl. A two-out error to Senatore put a runner on, and Rocha singled up the middle to set the table for Hirschbuhl.   

The Pride had chances in the first two innings thanks to Purdue errors, but couldn't take advantage. Sophomore center fielder Rachael Senatore (Sparta, N.J.) led off by reaching second on a throwing error, but was left stranded. Michalowski led off the second inning by reaching on an error, but was thrown out going to third on a single from Bigler.

Galati went the distance, struck out seven and walked none, improving to 24 strikeouts and no walks this weekend, improving to 6-5 on the year. Bigler was 2-for-3 at the plate for Hofstra.

Hofstra returns to action later today with a 6 p.m. contest against Florida Atlantic, before concluding play at the FAU Invitational tomorrow morning with a 9 a.m. game against Buffalo.