April 11, 2000
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Purdue Boilermakers' baseball team faced adversity for the first time this season as the squad lost three of four to the Iowa Hawkeyes and were faced with a mid-week road game at No. 26 Notre Dame, who entered the matchup with a 22-7 record. The Old Gold and Black responded with the skillful leadership and youthful desire that has been the very definition of this squad since the 2000 season began. The Boilers came out strong, scoring two runs in the opening inning to defeat the Fighting Irish, 7-5.
"We started things off better tonight," Schreiber said. "We got two quick runs in the first inning and I was happy to see us get out of the box early and put some pressure on their defense. This is a team that could beat some very good teams, but we could also lose to some not so great teams. We just have to keep our focus and keep working hard."
With conference games against Indiana coming up this weekend, the Boilers opted to step out of their starting rotation and send freshman Chadd Blasko to the hill. Blasko, a Mishawaka, Ind., native showcased his talent in front of a hometown crowd. Despite the sub 35-degree temperature at game time, Blasko came out firing on all cylinders. With his early-game pitches rising above the 90 miles per hour mark, Blasko sailed through the first inning. Coming into the second inning, Blasko hit the Irish's No. 4 hitter, which would prove costly as Paul O'Toole would come around to score Notre Dame's first run off a single by first baseman Jeff Felker. Blasko worked out of the second without another run, and continued his strong performance through the sixth inning. With six strong innings behind him, only giving up three runs on eight hits, Blasko earned his second win of the season to move to 2-1. The young right hander bettered his ERA to 3.38, holding the Boilermakers' ERA to below 4.00 at 3.82. In the sixth inning, Purdue pitching coach Gary Adcock opted to go with the Colgate, Wis., native, Ben Kaebisch. Kaebisch successfully filled the role of middle reliever as the junior worked his way into the ninth inning, giving up four hits and no earned runs. With runners at first and second with no outs in the ninth, the winning run stepped to the plate for the Irish. Adcock again opted to go to the bullpen, this time calling for the Big Ten's save leader, Andy Helmer. Helmer came in and changed the pace of the ballgame with a great deal of help from third baseman Brad Kriner. Irish shortstop Alec Porzel lined a shot right at Kriner, which he grabbed out of the air before going to second to complete the 5-4 double play. With two outs and a runner on first, Helmer put and end to the Irish rally, getting O'Toole to hit a ground ball to Mike Duurmsa who handled it and ended the ball game.
"It was a big deal for Chadd Blasko to be able to come out and pitch at Notre Dame in front of his hometown crowd," Schreiber said. "This is Chadd's old backyard, where he grew up. He was probably a Notre Dame fan growing up so it is nice to see him get this opportunity."
With solid pitching keeping them in the game, the Purdue bats started to come alive. The Boilers struck early, grabbing a 2-0 lead in the first inning. After jumping out early, the Boilers struggled until the sixth inning when they made Notre Dame pay for some costly mistakes. Erik Frei led off the inning, reaching on an error by the Irish shortstop. Nate Sickler followed that with an infield single that moved Frei to second. Following a sacrifice bunt by Hallada, The Boilers had runners at second and third with only one out. A throwing error by the catcher allowed Frei to score and Sickler to reach third and following a Daniel Underwood single, Sickler scored the Boilers' fourth run. Purdue scored one more in the sixth to go up 5-2. Purdue added two more runs in the seventh as Mike Duursma nailed a double to start the inning, and extend his consecutive hits streak to eight games. Notre Dame added two more runs in the eighth, but it was too little, too late as Purdue won its 19 game of the season.
Coming on strong at the plate for Purdue were freshmen Nick McIntyre and Daniel Underwood. Underwood closed out the day going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. McIntyre led the Boilers will three hits, going 3-for-4 with an RBI.
Purdue will be back in action as the team plays its second consecutive non-conference game as the Boilermakers travel to Valparaiso to take on the Crusaders. Purdue defeated Valpo earlier in the season, 10-1, at Lambert Field.