March 31, 2001
Pitcher Dave Gassner continued his resurgenced, pitching his second consecutive complete game in a 4-0 victory over Michigan State. The complete game shutout is the first of the season for the Boilermakers, also the first of Gassner's career. Gassner pitched a complete game at Illinois last year, but gave up two unearned runs. In his last two outings, Gassner is 2-0, pitching 14 innings, allowing two runs and striking out 16.
In the second, after two runners got on base as Kyle Geswein was hit by a pitch and Scott Koerber singled. Gassner held the runners in check, striking out the remaining three batters. It proved to be the pivotal turning point in the game, as the Spartans had no major scoring threat after that innin. He collected five strikeouts in the first two innings.
The Boilermakers had a big third inning, scoring three runs. All three runs were scored after the second out. Mike Duursma led off the inning with a walk then advanced to second on a passed ball. Nick McIntyre singled to score Duursma, putting the Boilermakers on the board. David Harrell singled to advance McIntyre to second before Nate Sickler came on with his third triple of the year, driving in both runners. Kris Luce kept the inning alive when he reached base on a walk. Purdue finished the third inning with three runs on three hits.
Duursma led off the fourth with a double down the left field line, then Underwood broke out of an 0-for-10 slump with a base hit to centerfield, scoring Duursma from second. That marked the seventh hit of the game to that point, which led to a pitching change. Starter Nick Bates pitched 3.1 innings, and was credited with all four Purdue runs on seven hits. Duursma is 4-for-8 in the last four games.
Gassner pitched a scoreless third, and finished off the fourth inning strongly as he stopped a sharply hit pitch at him then struck out the final batter to keep his shutout alive. He added another strikeout in the fifth, followed by back-to-back groundouts to the shortstop.
Gassner's pitching and Purdue's stellar defensive play continued to stifle the Spartans down the stretch. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Gassner struck out the leadoff hitter followed by another diving catch by McIntyre in right field, similar to his catch in game one of the doubleheader. The sixth inning ended with a groundout to second base.
Gassner stunned the Spartans in the seventh, striking out the final batter of the game, giving him his complete game shutout. Gassner did not allow a baserunner after the third inning. He finished the game with nine strikeouts and no walks.
NOTES - This marks Gassner's second consecutive complete game ... Gassner's ERA before last week's game against Minnesota was 13.50 and after his last two contests, he has lowered that ERA to 8.04 ... Boilermaker relief pitchers (Howard, Lester, Skripsky) have pitched a combined 11.2 innings, allowed 11 hits and no earned runs in six Big Ten games ... the pitching staff has a combined 35 strikeouts to just eight walks in six Big Ten games.