March 15, 2000
DURHAM, N.C. - The Purdue baseball team got back to their winning ways today, coming off a late-inning offensive explosion that led them to a 12-9 win over the Duke Blue Devils. The Boilers punched out 16 hits including a six-run ninth inning for the win. Purdue improves their record to 8-4, while Duke drops to 6-18.
Starting the day on the hill for Purdue was junior David Gassner. Gassner has been strong of late, bringing his 2-1 record and team leading 18 strikeouts to Jack Coombs Field for the second game of the two-game set. After striking out the first batter he faced, Gassner gave up back-to-back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice fly by Kevin Kelly, the Blue Devils notched their second run of the first inning. Gassner settled down to go 1-2-3 in the second and get through the third.
The Boilers opened up the game seemingly having their offensive woes behind them. Nate Sickler led off the game with a double, and eventually scored as Erik Frei singled. Sickler again reached in the third on a single, and was driven in when Frei grounded into a double play. With the score knotted at two, Purdue appeared to be in a pitcher's dual. Gassner opened the third with a Kelly ground out, before giving up a double to Larry Broadway. Broadway came around to score on Matt Lynch's single. Lynch would also score before the inning was over. By the end of the sixth inning, Duke held a comfortable lead at 7-2. With things apparently well in hand, the Devils went with Kevin Thompson to open the seventh. This began the Boilers offensive explosion. Thompson got the first two batters to ground out on weak ground balls to first. With two outs, Thompson faced the top of the Boilers' order. Nate Sickler opened the inning with a single, and was followed by David Blomberg who did the same. Both runners advanced on a costly wild pitch, and Erik Frei knocked them both in with his second single of the game. Frei stole second and was knocked in by Kris Luce, who followed with the Old Gold and Black's fourth consecutive single and completed the three run, two out rally.
Jeremy Ballard opened the seventh, after striking out Kevin Kelly to end the sixth. Ballard had a turning point performance as the senior shut down the Devils striking out the final two batters to end the inning. Schreiber closed the book on Ballard after going 1.1, and striking out three. On to pitch the eighth was closer Andy Helmer. Helmer was responsible for shutting down the Crimson Tide in an important 10-9 win over No. 6 Alabama, and looked to do the same against the Blue Devils. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native gave up back-to-back doubles, but then settled down to get the next three outs, only surrendering one run. With the score at 8-6, Purdue needed the top of their order to come up big, again. Leadoff hitter Nate Sickler started things off with a single. He was followed with consecutive singles from David Blomberg and Enrik Frei. Kris Luce followed, getting hit by a pitch to load the bases. With the Boilers down one and the bases loaded, freshman Daniel Underwood came to the plate with the play of the game. The Bedford, Ind., native smacked the Boilers first triple of the year, knocking in three runs. Purdue scored once more before batting around in the ninth. With the lead now at 12-8, Andy Helmer again took the hill and closed things out.
With 16 hits on the day, the Boiler bats were impressive. Sickler closed out the day going 4-for-6 with four runs scored, while No. 3 hitter Erik Frei closed things out going 3-for-4 with four RBI. David Blomberg completed the 1-3 spots going 3-for-6 with two runs. Purdue 1-2-3 hitters combined for 10 of the team's 16 hits and eight of 12 runs.
Purdue will now travel to the No. 19 East Carolina Pirates for a three game series. The Pirates are the second ranked team Purdue plays this season. Game one of the series is at 7 p.m. (EST).