April 8, 2000
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue Boilermakers held off a late inning rally from the Iowa Hawkeyes, to win their sixth Big Ten game, 5-4. The Boilers move to 18-9, 6-3 in the Big Ten, while the Hawkeyes drop to 9-19 and 3-6 in the conference.
Purdue opened up the game with Ben Quick on the hill. The 2-3 starter has pitched well this season, but has received little run support. Quick opened things up well again today, mowing down the first eight batters in order. With two outs in the third inning, Quick gave up his first hit of the ballgame, a double to No. 9 hitter Jimmy Reid. Reid was later knocked in on a single by Brian Burks. Quick got out of the inning, and settled in to the seventh without surrendering another run. With a 5-1 lead, Quick opened the seventh with two runners reaching on errors by Kris Luce and Mike Duursma. The Hawkeyes took full advantage of their opportunity, following the Boiler miscues with a single by Jason Edgecomb. With the Hawks loading the bases with one out, Purdue pitching coach Gary Adcock opted to go to the Big Ten's save leader, Andy Helmer. Helmer came in and struck out Reid to get the second out of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Helmer gave up back-to-back singles to allow two runs to score. With the score at 5-3 and the bases still loaded, Helmer threw a wild pitch to allow the Hawkeyes' fourth run of the game score. With runners now at second and third, Helmer was in danger of blowing his first save of the season, and taking his first loss. With the game on the line, Andy Jansen stepped to the plate, already 2-for-3 on the day. Helmer got Jansen to hit a hard grounder back to the mound and Helmer got the last out of the inning to end the ballgame and earn his Big Ten leading, ninth save.
The Boilers got things started early at the plate, as Nate Sickler was the first Boiler to reach first, getting hit by a pitch. Nick McIntyre and Kris Luce followed with back-to-back singles scoring Sickler. Mike Duursma followed with a single after a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Underwood, scoring McIntyre for the Boilers second run of the inning. Purdue grounded out in back-to-back ground balls in the third inning before Daryl Hallada hit a record breaking double. With Hallada's two bagger, he landed himself in scoring position as well as in the record books. With his 246th career hit, Hallada moved one past Elam Ross for the all-time career hit lead in the 112-year history of Purdue baseball. Hallada would later score the Boilermakers' third run of the game on a double by Nate Sickler. The Boilers added another run in the fifth and closed out the scoring with run in the seventh, as Hawkeye reliever David Kot walked the bases loaded before Mitch Price came on to walk Nate Sickler and allow David Blomberg across the plate.
The top performances on the day for Purdue came from Kris Luce and Nate Sickler. Luce went 3-for-3 in the game, along with a run and an RBI. Sickler went 1-for-2 with a walk and two RBI, as well as a run scored. The Boilers will now play the second game of the double header with David Gassner getting the start. Gassner is 4-1 for Purdue and will go against Ryan Prahm who is 3-1 on the season for the Hawkeyes. Due to the delayed start, the two teams will get in as many innings as the daylight allows before finishing the four game series up on Sunday.