April 23, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The saying goes, "good pitching beats good hitting." The Boilermakers' baseball team proved that clich? correct and added some good hitting of its own to complete the sweep of the No. 25 Fighting Illini. This marks the fourth ranked team this season that the Boilers have defeated and with the win today, Purdue has notched seven wins against teams that have graced the Top-25. The Old Gold and Black finished off the Illini with a 10-3, which moves their overall record to 28-14 and 13-7 in the conference. The 4-0 series win marks the first time since 1997 that Purdue has swept a Big Ten series. In the 1997 season, the Boilermakers swept Indiana.
Hoping to claim at least one game in the four game-set, the Illini came out swinging the bats in the first inning against Purdue No. 4 starter, Russ Morgan (4-4). Chris Basak led off with a single and stole second to put a runner in scoring position. Craig Marquie followed with a single and before the inning was over, Rob Fischer hit a two-run double to put Illinois up, 2-0. After the Boilermakers were sent down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first inning by Illinois hurler Andy Dickinson (5-2), Illinois came on strong again, scoring another run to put them up 3-0. After Russ Morgan walked the leadoff runner in the second inning, he was pulled in favor of freshman Chadd Blasko. Blasko closed out the inning for Purdue, allowing only one hit.
With the series sweep on the line, the rally-happy Boilermakers began their comeback. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Daniel Underwood came through with a single. Underwood advanced to second as Kris Luce singled for his first of three hits in the ball game. With runners on first and third, Brad Kriner stepped to the plate looking to better his team-leading batting average. The Indianapolis, Ind., native lined a triple off the wall in right field to score both runs and put the Boilers on the board. In the following inning, the Old Gold and Black ran up the score to stay, scoring five runs on five hits and one Illini error. David Blomberg led off the inning with a base on balls and was followed by four straight singles. Kris Luce and Brad Kriner both went down to make the first two outs of the inning, but with runners on second and third Mike Duursma came through with a clutch double to score both runs. With the five run inning, the Boilers went up to stay with a score of 7-3. The Old Gold and Black added three more insurance runs in the fifth seventh and eighth to make the final score 10-3.
With starter Russ Morgan getting rattled early, Purdue pitching coach Gary Adcock opted to go with Blasko and his mid-90's fastball to stymie the Illinois offense. The gamble worked, as Blasko shut down Illinois, going 8.0 innings, giving up no earned runs and only six hits. The Mishawaka, Ind., native struck out two to beat his second ranked team in as many appearances, with the other win coming against No. 24 Notre Dame. Blasko moves to 3-1 on the season and better his season ERA to 2.78. Purdue's overall ERA dropped to 3.64 on the season.
With the Boilermaker-pitchers keeping the Illini offense at bay, the offense had a successful weekend with the Illinois pitching staff. In the final game of the series, Nate Sickler, Daryl Hallada and Kris Luce all had three hits. Brad Kriner, Mike Duursma and Underwood all added two hits for Purdue to add to the team's 16 hits on the day. Hallada raised his season average to .288 after hitting .571 against the Illini pitching staff. Hallada went 8-for-14 on the weekend with three doubles, adding to Purdue's .353 average against Illinois in the four game set. Kriner hit .545 against the Illini to raise his team-leading BA to .355 for the season.
The Boilers will now put their 13-3 home record on the line against IUPUI in a mid-week non-conference game in the friendly confines of Lambert Field. Purdue will play five straight non-conference games this week as they have the weekend off from Big Ten competition and play Xavier on Wed., followed by a three game set with Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla.