Feb. 29, 2000
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Purdue (6-1) won its sixth straight game today, beating the Evansville Purple Aces 8-3. The Boilers smacked 16 hits to hand the Aces (4-1) their first loss of the season. The Boilermakers head back to Purdue before leaving for Tuscaloosa, Ala., to battle the Crimson Tide in a three game set.
"We got some timely plays, both defensively and strikeout-wise," Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber says. "We had a few double plays and some very timely hitting. I would say that we failed to do some things, we left too many people on base, but I think that the timely things that we did got us through."
Opening the game on the hill for Purdue was senior Jeremy Ballard. Ballard (1-0) won in his first start of the season. His only other action to date was a relief appearance earlier in the season when he pitched three innings and gave up three runs. Ballard had a solid performance in the opening innings, striking out two of the first four batters he faced. The following inning, the Fort Wayne, Ind., native gave up a homerun to the Aces top power hitter, Vince Serafini. Serafini was doing double duty for the Purple Aces, hitting a homerun to put the Aces in the lead and pitching a solid game to keep them there. Serafini went 5.2, giving up nine hits and three earned runs. Serafini pitched into the third before the Boiler bats came alive, nailing four hits and four runs to put the Boilers ahead to stay. Ballard faced three batters in the sixth, before leaving the game with a 4-3 lead, which was good enough for the win as Purdue scored five more runs behind the strong arms of Chadd Blasko and Andy Helmer. Blasko came in in relief to pitch the sixth through the eighth, and faced four batters in the ninth before handing the ball over to Andy Helmer who closed it out.
"Blasko and Helmer pitched very well for us today," Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber said. "Ballard opened the game and battled. He had his problems at times, but he fought hard and came out of it with a win."
While the pitchers kept it close, the offense was busy biding its time until the offensively dominated third inning. Purdue opened up the third with a walk to leadoff hitter Chris Walker. Walker would eventually score as David Blomberg followed with a double into the gap in left center to move Walker to third. With runners at second and third, Daryl Hallada hit his second homerun of the year to put the Boilers ahead to stay. Purdue would score another run before the inning was over as Kris Luce scored Daniel Underwood from third. The single was the second hit of the game for Luce, as the Boilers' first baseman led the team going 4-for-5.
"Luce is getting the ball deep, and hitting a lot of two-out or two-strike pitches," Schreiber said. "He looks good up there and his confidence is building. Luce is really battling at the plate and it is paying off."
The Boilers went on to score three more runs in the seventh, before Nate Sickler closed out the scoring with his first homerun of the season. Sickler led the Boilers in homeruns last season with 11, but was batting only .095 coming into today's game.
"Sickler is still working hard at some things," Schreiber said. "He'll certainly come around. Any problems that he may be having certainly isn't a result of a lack of effort."
Purdue is currently 6-1 and will take on the Crimson Tide this weekend, beginning on Friday, March 3, at 7 p.m. Alabama is currently 8-4.