February 26, 1999
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Purdue baseball lost its season opener 13-5 to Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. on Friday.
Despite scoring five runs on 10 hits, the Boilers could not shut down the Commodores.
Purdue got on top early with two runs in the first. Juniors Chris Walker and Daryl Hallada led off the inning with consecutive singles and scored on an error and a wild pitch, respectively to give the Boilers a 2-0 lead.
After Vanderbilt cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the first, Purdue answered with two more in the third. Consecutive singles by Walker, Hallada and junior Erik Frei and a sacrifice fly by senior Ryan Cole upped the score to 4-1.
Junior right-hander Andy Helmer pitched four solid innings for Purdue, but tired in the fifth, as the Commodores exploded for seven runs in the inning. Vanderbilt added four more in the sixth inning and held Purdue to just one run after that.
Walker went 3-for-4 in the game with two runs scored, while Hallada was 4-for-5 with a pair of runs.
Purdue will take on Vanderbilt in the second game of the three-game series today at 2 p.m.