March 11, 2001
The Purdue baseball team closed its weekend series at Cincinnati, falling 10-4 on Sunday.
Purdue got off to another impressive start in the first inning, but was unable to hold on for the win. Daniel Underwood singled, advanced to second on a Nick McIntyre ground out, then scored on a Nate Sickler single. The Boilermakers built their lead to 3-0 in the third when Kris Luce hit his second home run in as many games, also driving in John Gusich who got on base after being hit by a pitch.
Cincinnati got two runs back in their half of the second inning, then added four more to gain the lead for good. Purdue scored one more run as Underwood added a solo home run in the sixth inning, narrowing the Cincinnati lead to 6-4, but that was as close as the Boilermakers would get, as the bullpen yielded four more runs in the seventh and eighth innings.
Sophomore pitcher Sean O'Neil was credited with the loss in his first start of the season. Ohio native Luke Howard relieved him in the third inning and kept the Boilermakers in range, pitching four solid innings, yielding just one hit, allowing no runs, striking out two and walking two.
Nate Sickler was 3-for-4 with one RBI. He also hit his team-leading sixth double of the year, giving him 44 his career, fourth-most in school history. He needs just 18 more doubles this season to surpass Elam Rossy's (1982-85) school record of 61. Luce and Underwood each added two hits, while Luce built his RBI total to 10, a team-high. McIntyre was 1-for-4, extending his hit streak to ten games.
The Boilermakers continue action this week with a spring break trip to California. They will play five games in five days, starting with a Tuesday game at San Diego. The Boilermakers are 4-6 on the season.