April 14, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue and in-state rival Indiana battled for nine innings and the final score wasn't decided until the final pitch. The Boilermakers won the game 6-5, but it wasn't easy by any means. The Boilers fought back from 2-0 and 4-3 deficits for their seventh conference win of the season, improving their record to 21-12 overall and 7-6 in the conference. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, fell to 23-16 and 5-8 with the loss.
Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber wasn't surprised with the seesaw game.
"That's the type of series this one will probably be," Schreiber said. "Both teams battled hard and neither team gave up. I think you have to give them a lot of credit, too. They didn't quit. We need to get up for the next two days and continue to play hard."
Indiana jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first inning, with three hits off Purdue starter Ben Quick. The Boilers battled back with two RBI singles by Nick McIntyre in the first and third innings to tie it up at two after three innings. McIntyre ended up going 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead the Boilers at the plate.
The Boilers scored a single run in the fourth on a David Blomberg groundout to take a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived, as the Hoosiers came back with two more runs in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the sixth the Boilermakers came storming back with three runs of their own with the biggest hit coming off the bat of Nate Sickler. The center fielder beat out an infield single, which sent Mike Duursma home from third and speedy Chris Walker home from second. That gave the Boilers a 6-4 lead, which wouldn't be relinquished.
Quick (4-3) picked up the win after battling back from a rough start in the first inning in which he gave up two runs on three hits. Quick struck out four in 7.2 innings of work. Andy Helmer came on in the eighth inning with two outs and recorded the final four outs to pick up his league-leading 12th save of the season. The save didn't come easy for Helmer. Indiana leadoff hitter Benji Clause reached on an error and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and a ground out to second. With Clause on third and the largest crowd of the season on its feet, Helmer struck out the Hoosiers' cleanup hitter Vasilli Spanos to end the game 6-5.
Schreiber was pleased with the way Quick calmed down after early-inning trouble to keep the Boilermakers in the game.
"We knew our bullpen was a little depleted coming into the game and we couldn't afford to pull him early," Schreiber said. " We needed some quality innings from him. He got some big outs and continued to pitch well after some defensive mistakes behind him."
Quick was impressed with how aggressively the Indiana batters came out of the gate in the first couple innings.
"I felt like I was throwing all right at the beginning, but they really came out to hit," Quick said. "I just tried to stay composed and stay within myself."
The Boilermakers and Hoosiers will continue their four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., at Lambert Field. The game will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.wlay.purdue.edu.
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