April 9, 2000
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue Boilermakers found themselves in a similar situation as their Friday win against the Hawkeyes, however they were on the other side of the ball. Purdue found themselves down 5-1 heading into the sixth inning, when an offensive surge produced two runs to bring the score to 5-3. Purdue led off the seventh and final inning with a walk and a single, followed by a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt by David Blomberg to put runners at second and third. Chris Walker sacrificed a run in to bring the Boilers within one. With two outs and the potential tying run at second, the Boilers batting average leader in 1999, Erik Frei, struck out to end the ball game.
The Boilers had a strong outing on the day from starter Jeremy Ballard, who went only three innings, giving up four runs, only two of which were earned. The senior right hander gave up a single and a double in the first inning, allowing two runs to score to get off to a shaky start. Ballard settled down to get into the fourth inning without surrendering another run, but got hit hard in the fourth. The Hawkeyes scored two more runs in the fourth to make it a 4-1 game. Reliever Ben Kaebisch came in for the second day in a row to get the Boilers out of trouble. Kaebisch came in, giving up only one run over the span of three innings, on only two hits.
The Boilers did not have trouble getting runners on, as the Old Gold and Black pounded out 12 hits in the loss. Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber opted to move Chris Walker to the third spot in the lineup, and move the Boilers' home run leader to the lead off spot. Nate Sickler performer well leading off, as the junior from Hinkley, Minn., went 3-for-4 on the day. However, Sickler's runs scored output of zero was indicative of the problems the Boilers had getting runners across. Daryl Hallada and Kris Luce added a couple of hits each for the Boilers total. Hallada had a perfect day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a run scored as well as an RBI. Luce closed out the day going 2-for-3 with two RBI. All but one Purdue batter notched a hit on the day, including a base hit by Mike Duursma to extend his consecutive hit streak to six games.
The Boilers will finish their series with a seven-inning game to close out the twin bill. Purdue will throw senior Russ Morgan (4-3, 5.67) who will look to even the series with Iowa at two game apiece.