April 14, 2001
The Purdue baseball team split its Saturday doubleheader with Penn State, winning a 5-2 thriller in Game One, while dropping a 3-1 decision in Game Two.
In Game One, the Boilermakers got a complete game from Chadd Blasko, who improved to 4-3 on the season. It was the first complete game of Blasko's career, and he beat his previous career-high for strikeouts in a game by fanning nine Penn State batters, while allowing just one walk.
Purdue jumped out to an early lead, getting two runs in the bottom of the first. Daniel Underwood singled to lead off the game. He stole second, his eighth stolen base of the year. Dave Blomberg walked to put two men on with no outs. On an attempted double-steal, Underwood was caught between second and third, while Blomberg advanced to second. David Harrell walked in his first plate appearance of the game. Nate Sickler stepped to the plate, driving a sharp base hit to centerfield, which drove in both Harrell and Blomberg. Sickler attempted to advance to second, but was thrown out on a questionable 8-2-4-6 putout. The Boilermakers led 2-0 after one inning.
The Boilermaker offense knocked out starting pitcher Mike Watson in the bottom of the second. Watson, who was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week this past week, loaded the bases in the second, then was replaced by David Aardsma. He finished with 1.2 innings pitched, two hits, two earned runs and five walks. He pitched a complete game shutout against Iowa last week.
Blasko shut down the Lions, allowing just one baserunner through the first three innings. The Nittany Lions got two runs back in the fourth to even the score as Chris Wright had a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Adam Warchal. Brian Bishop tripled in Donnie Wright, tying the score.
Blasko struck out two batters in the fifth, and allowed just one base runner after the sixth inning, a base hit by Mike DeRenzo in the seventh inning. He finished the game with the two earned runs, six hits, nine strikeouts, just one walk in what was arguably his best pitching performance as a Boilermaker. In his last two starts, Blasko has pitched 14.2 innings, allowed 13 hits, six earned runs (3.68 ERA), 16 strikeouts and just four walks including one against Penn State. He is 3-1 in Big Ten play.
Thanks to Blasko shutting down Penn State, the Boilermakers seized the opportunity to grab a win with some ninth-inning heroics. Mike Duursma walked to lead off the ninth. Underwood had a sacrifice bunt at the pitcher that allowed Duursma to advance to second. Pitcher Kevin Damiano elected to intentionally walk Dave Blomberg, putting two of Purdue's top baserunners on with Nick McIntyre stepping to the plate. He was able to get McIntyre to fly out to centerfield, but wasn't as lucky with his next batter David Harrell. Harrell crushed a ball to deep left field, his fourth home run of the season, adding three runs and giving Purdue a thrilling 5-2 win. Harrell finished the day with a 3-for-4 performance, along with two runs scored and four RBI. Sickler and Underwood also added two hits.
Unfortunately, the Boilermakers' winning streak came to an end at 13, as Penn State was able to steal a 3-1 victory in Game Two. Dave Gassner came through with another strong outing, pitching a complete seven-inning effort, allowing just one earned run and striking out ten batters, a season-high for him. He now has 189 career strikeouts, one away from tying Sherard Clinkscales (1990-92) for sixth place on the school's all-time list. For the season, Gassner has struck out 42 batters to just 12 walks. His complete game is his third in his last four outings, giving him nine for his career.
Purdue got a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third as John Badylak was hit on his helmet by a Peter Yodis pitch. He advanced to second on a Duursma sacrifice bunt. Blomberg singled to centerfield two at-bats later, as Badylak hustled in from second to put the Boilermakers on the board.
Purdue held its 1-0 lead until the top of the sixth, as Chris Netwall hit a solo shot to even the score. In the top of the seventh, the Nittany Lions added two more to take a 3-1 lead. Purdue tried to start a rally in the bottom of the seventh, as Gusich and Duursma singled to put two runners on, but were not able to advance. It was Purdue's first loss in 14 games, only its third in its last 17 games.
The Boilermakers conclude their series with Penn State, playing a noon game tomorrow. Sophomore Sean O'Neil (4-2) gets the call for Purdue, and will aim for his fifth win of the season. The game will be aired on www.purduesports.com, with Nate Barrett providing play-by-play analysis and special guest Jeff Washburn, of the Lafayette Journal & Courier, providing color commentary.