April 21, 2001
Purdue evened its series with Illinois with a 5-2 victory. Chadd Blasko pitched his second consecutive complete game and Mike Duursma and Dave Blomberg each added two hits to spark the Boilermaker offense.
Dave Blomberg extended his hitting streak to 15 games, the longest of any player this season, with a base hit in the first inning. Nick McIntyre reached base on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. Blomberg was out on the play. After Harrell was walked to put two runners on with two outs, Nate Sickler ripped a single to center field to score McIntyre from second. Harrell was thrown out trying to advance to third.
Blasko fought his way out of the bottom of the first. Despite giving up a leadoff home run to Brady Ballard and letting the next two batters on base, Blasko buckled down and struck out Luke Simmons, then stopped a Rob Fischer ground ball, throwing out Andy Schutzenhofer at second. He ended the inning forcing a fly out to first baseman Kris Luce.
In the second inning, after John Gusich walked, Simon Klink, starting his 12th game as the team's designated hitter, drove a double down the left field line, the first double of his career. Duursma matched that with a double of his own to right field, scoring Gusich and Klink. Duursma attempted to advance to third, but was caught in a run down. After challenging the third baseman, he was able to rush back to second, staying safe at second.
Blasko shut down the Illini in the second, forcing two groundouts and adding his second strikeout of the game. He yielded one more run as Simmons drove in Ballard, who singled to lead off the inning, on a base. Blasko added another strikeout in the third before giving up his second run. Purdue led 3-2 after three innings. He retired the side in the second, fourth and fifth innings, and after Illinois' second run, Blasko retired the next 12 batters in a row before giving up a single to Kris Kapriva. Blasko also picked up a victory in last year's final game of a four-game series, pitching eight innings, giving up six hits and no runs in a 10-3 Boilermaker victory. In his last two outings, Blasko has two complete games including 16 innings pitched, four earned runs (2.25 ERA), 12 strikeouts and two walks. His five victories now lead the team.
In the top of the fifth, on the very first pitch, Duursma drilled his first home run of the season to left field, increasing Purdue's lead to 4-2. Blomberg added his second hit of the game, a base hit to center field. McIntyre singled for his first hit of the game. Purdue led 4-2 at the end of their half of the fifth inning.
In the sixth, Gusich was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Two runners were on after Klink was walked. With one out, Duursma was able to get on base for the third time of the day, being safe at first after a throwing error by the second baseman. Gusich was able to score from second as Purdue increased its lead to 5-2, closing the scoring for both teams.
In addition to his second consecutive complete game, the win marked Blasko's third victory in his last four decisions. Justin Olson takes the loss for Illinois. Blomberg was 2-for-4 while Duursma was 2-for-3 with three RBI. It was Blomberg's third consecutive game with two hits and Duursma's second three-RBI game in his last three.