April 11, 2001
The Purdue baseball team scored in double-digits for the third consecutive game, in a 10-2 drubbing of in-state rival and 2000 NCAA Regional qualifier Butler. The Boilermakers have now won their last 11 games, and return to Lambert Field for a weekend series against another qualifier from last year, Penn State.
The Boilermakers got off to another strong start, grabbing a 2-0 lead thanks in part to a nice two-out rally. David Blomberg got the team's first hit with a double to left field. Blomberg took advantage of a choppy outfield and hustled to second. Nick McIntyre singled at the third baseman and advanced to second, as the third baseman caught Blomberg in a rundown. David Harrell walked, putting two runners on with two outs. Nate Sickler drilled his first pitch of the game, a double, to deep centerfield, scoring McIntyre and Harrell. It was Sickler's 17th of the season, three away from tying the school record. Kris Luce walked putting two men on for the second time of the inning. John Gusich lined one at starting pitcher Pat Neshek, who threw over to first for the final out.
Freshman Luke Howard made his second career start. In his first inning, he gave up a leadoff single, a fly out, then forced a grounded double play to end the inning.
Sophomore Brad Kriner started at the designated hitter spot and singled to lead off the second inning. He advanced to second on a nice bunt set at the third baseman by Mike Duursma. Underwood drew a walk in his second plate appearance of the game, putting two on for the third time of the game. Blomberg flied out and McIntyre grounded out to end the inning.
Howard gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the second inning. With runners on the corner, Howard struck out Eddie Olzsta, then Harrell threw out Regan Allee attempting to steal second, converting a double play to end the inning.
Harrell led off the third with a single through the right side. Sickler came through with his second hit of the game, a base hit to centerfield, putting runners at first and second with no one out. After Luce and Gusich struck out on questionable calls, Harrell and Sickler advanced to third and second respectively following a passed ball. Kriner grounded out to shortstop to end the inning.
Howard threw out the leadoff hitter in the bottom of the third on a groundout, forced a fly out, then with runners on the corners, then forced a groundout to Gusich, who made a strong throw from third for the putout, keeping the Boilermakers up 2-1 after three innings.
After each team went scoreless in their respective halves of the fourth inning, Harrell led off the fifth inning with a walk, his third time on base in three attempts. Sickler then jacked his fourth home run of the season, his third hit of the day, only needing a triple to hit for the cycle. It was Sickler's third three-hit game of the season. Luce struck out swinging, and Gusich flied out to right to end the inning, but the Boilermakers were able to increase their lead over the Bulldogs to 4-1.
Adam Green replaced Howard to start the fifth inning. In his second career start, the Ohio native pitched four innings while allowing no earned runs. He allowed four hits and struck out one batter. Green struck out his first batter, then ended the inning getting pinch hitter Jay Swansson to fly out to centerfield.
Underwood got his first hit of the game in the top of the sixth then scored as Dave Blomberg looped a single to right field that was misjudged by Rex Eaton. Underwood was able to score, as Blomberg kept the shortstop and third baseman occupied while caught in a rundown.
Green put in another solid effort in the sixth inning, striking out the first two batters he faced, including a strikeout of Eddie Olzsta on three pitches. Green pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three, making it his second scoreless outing in his last three attempts. McIntyre singled to right field to lead off the seventh inning. Harrell got on base for the fourth time of the day with a base hit through the right side, advancing McIntyre over to third. On his first pitch, Sickler drilled his second homer of the game, a shot to deep right field, increasing Purdue's lead to 8-1. Luce walked, and following a Gusich line out to centerfield, Kriner came through with a sacrifice bunt to move Luce to second. Duursma fouled out to right to end the inning.
Jim Davies replaced Green to start the seventh inning, pitching a scoreless seventh inning and striking out one batter. Ben Kaebisch came on after Davies, giving up just one unearned run. Kaesbisch has not given up an earned run in his last two relief appearances.
Purdue added two more runs in the eighth to put itself in double-digits. Underwood singled to lead off the inning. He was out after Blomberg grounded into a double play. However the Boilermakers once more proved to be a threat with two outs in the inning. McIntyre stepped to the plate and delivered his third hit of the game. He then advanced to second on a passed ball and scored from second after Harrell's third hit of the day, a single to centerfield. McIntyre finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Harrell got on base in all five chances, going 3-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and four runs scored. If their individual performances weren't enough, Sickler stepped to the plate one more time and tripled to the right field wall, with the rightfielder unable to make a play. Sickler finished 5-for-5, hitting for the cycle including two home runs, and driving in eight of the Boilermakers' ten runs, arguably one of the greatest individual games in Purdue baseball history.
Fort Wayne native Dustin Glant came on to pitch the ninth inning, striking out one batter and putting the Bulldogs to rest. Purdue improves its overall record against Butler to 98-32-3, while improving to 14-3 against Indiana teams over the last two seasons.
NOTES - Purdue has won 11 consecutive games overall including its last ten road games in a row ... by picking up its 13th road victory of the season today, that is the second- highest total for the team since 1993 ... McIntyre, Harrell and Sickler combined to go 11-for-13 with nine RBI and nine runs scored ... Sickler is three doubles away from breaking the schools' single-season record of 20 doubles in a season held jointly by Jermaine Allensworth (1992) and Daryl Hallada (1999) ... Sickler needs seven more doubles to break the career mark for doubles set by Elam Rossy (1982-85) ... Sickler has a 1.156 slugging average over his last nine games ... McIntyre leads the team with 14 multi-hit games, picking up his fifth game with three or more hits this season ... Howard pitched his seventh outing of the season without allowing an earned run ... Glant pitched his second scoreless outing of the season, while Kaebisch pitched his second consecutive outing without allowing an earned run ... Blomberg picked up his tenth multi-hit game of the season, his fifth in the last seven games ... Simon Klink walked in his pinch-hit attempt today, his seventh walk drawn in nine pinch-hit attempts ... Underwood also added two hits, his 12th multi-hit game of the season, good enough for third on the team.