Feb. 18, 2001
The Purdue baseball team closed out a successful opening to their 2001 season with a 6-5 win over Wake Forest.
The Boilermakers came through with a gritty performance, coming from behind and showed an impressive will to win.
They trailed early, as the Demon Deacons jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Matt Price walked in the first inning, advanced to second on a single, then advanced to third on a Chadd Blasko wild pitch. Price scored after Matt Price was walked with the bases loaded.
In the second inning, Wake Forest added three more runs as Nick Blue singled, then advanced to second on a throwing error, driving in Corey Sullivan and Jamie Athas. Blue later scored on a wild pitch to give Wake Forest a 4-0 lead.
Purdue got one run back in the bottom of the second. Brad Kriner doubled to lead off the inning, then scored from second two at-bats later as freshman Mitch Koester, who was impressive on both sides of the ball over the course of the weekend, drove him home with an infield single. Koester drove a ball that spun past pitcher Ben Clayton, and by the time he got to it, Koester beat out the throw and Kriner scored.
Wake Forest made the score 5-1 in the third inning as Sullivan reached base on a fielder's choice, advanced to second on an error, then to third on a wild pitch. He scored off a Steve LeFaivre single, giving the Demon Deacons what seemed to be a commanding 5-1 lead.
The Boilermakers started their battle back in the bottom half of the sixth innning. A Brad Kriner sliding catch for the second out of the fifth inning gave the team a little motivation defensively. They came to bat in the sixth, and quickly got two runs back.
Nick McIntyre led off the inning with a base hit, and was followed by a Kris Luce single. Both runners advanced on a Ben Clayton wild pitch. Wake Forest went to its bullpen, substituting Ryan Braun for Ben Clayton. Braun threw a wild pitch, which scored McIntyre and moved Luce up to third. Nick Treadway then singled to centerfield, driving in Luce. The Boilermakers now trailed 5-3.
Freshman Billy Lester came in and put together an impressive collegiate debut. Lester replaced starter Chadd Blasko after five innings, and pitched three scoreless innings to put the Boilermakers in good position to gain ground.
The Boilermakers exploded for three more runs in the seventh inning, taking a 6-5 lead. Mike Duursma led off the inning with a walk, then moved over to second after a balk, then to third base on a passed ball. Duursma scored the fourth Boilermaker run of the day on a Dave Blomberg sacrifice fly, narrowing the Wake Forest lead to 5-4. Nate Sickler followed up with a single, then stole second base, his second stolen base in as many games. After Nick McIntyre grounded out to second, Sickler advanced to third base on the play, and scored as Kris Luce nailed a double, evening the score at 5-5. Kriner then stepped to the plate and added a base hit, moving Luce over to third base. After a wild pitch, Luce scored to give the Boilermakers the lead at 6-5, with Kriner moving to third base.
Lester retired three out of four batters he faced in the eighth inning, and finished with three scoreless innings, yielding just two hits.
Ben Kaebisch started the ninth inning yielding a base hit and a walk. Doug Schreiber then decided to insert a right-handed pitcher on the mound, sending Matt Skripsky to replace Kaebisch. He got one quick out as he got pinch hitter Carlos Brack to ground out to first base. The runners advanced to second and third. In a bold move, Skripsky intentionally walked Jamie Athas, loading the bases. It paid off as Jason Aquila hit a ball sharply in the direction of the third baseman Koester. Koester took great command of the play, gunning his defensive stop over to Dave Blomberg who threw out Aquila at first base, ending the game and clinching the victory with a double play.
Lester was credited with the victory, while Skripsky got the save.
Purdue closes their first weekend series with a record of 2-1, while Wake Forest drops to 4-2. The Boilermakers were credited with winning the Coca Cola Classic, as they held a tiebreaker over Rice, despite losing to Central Florida. Rice finished with a 2-1 record, losing only to Purdue. Central Florida and Wake Forest each won one game.
Purdue continues their season on Friday as they travel to Clarksville, Tenn., take on Illinois State, Ball State and Austin Peay on Feb. 23-25.