April 7, 2001
Windy conditions continued to have an effect on play at Miller Park on the campus of Northwestern, as the two teams combined for 39 hits and 31 runs in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader. In the end, it was the Boilermakers coming out with a 20-11 victory, their ninth in a row overall, seventh in a row in conference play.
The Boilermakers went 1-2-3 in the first inning. The Wildcats put two runners on base in the first, scoring one run in the first on a base hit, runner scoring from third. The Boilermakers got a single from David Harrell and Kris Luce in the second inning, but were unable to score.
The Wildcats struck first by scoring in their half in the first, then added another three runs in the second. With no outs and trailing 3-0, Gassner forced a groundout to shortstop, then caught the next batter looking. He struck out one more batter after the Wildcats singled in another run, leading 4-0 after two innings.
The Boilermakers came back with two runs in the top of the third with two outs in the inning. Daniel Underwood singled, then advanced on wild pitch. He was thrown out on a rundown. Dave Blomberg walked then scored on a Nick McIntyre double down the right field line. McIntyre scored on a David Harrell fly ball that got caught in the wind and dropped for a single.
Still trailing 5-2, Gassner kept the Wildcats scoreless in the fourth, allowing just one hit, striking out one and David Harrell threw out a runner attempting to steal third.
The Boilermakers then went on a scoring frenzy, scoring 18 runs over the next three innings and going completely through the order in each inning.
Daniel Underwood led off the fifth inning with a walk. Blomberg hit a ball sharply at third base and was able to beat out the throw, putting two runners on base. McIntyre moved the runners up on a groundout to second. Harrell singled to score Underwood and move Blomberg over to third. McIntyre grounded out to second, moving Blomberg and Underwood to second and third respectively. Harrell stepped to the plate and singled, scoring Underwood and advancing Blomberg to third. Sickler then reached on a throwing error and advanced to second. Blomberg and Harrell scored to tie the game at 5-5. Luce flied out to centerfield, but because the centerfielder muffed his throw, Sickler was able to advance to third. The Boilers came through with back-to-back doubles from Guscih and Kriner, his first hit of the game. The Boilermakers concluded thir fifth inning with five runs, taking a 7-5 lead. Northwestern would not see the lead again. They tied the game at 7-7 in their half of the fifth.
Purdue added six runs in the sixth inning. Underwood led off the sixth inning with a double. Blomberg reached base on an infield single. McIntyre reached on a fielder's choice that moved Underwood over to third. Blomberg was out on the play at second. On the very next pitch, Harrell drilled a base hit to right centerfield to score Underwood, giving Purdue the lead once again at 8-7. Sickler came in and knocked his 16th double of the season down the left field line, scoring McIntyre and Harrell to put Purdue in double digits. Luce then hit a two-run homer to make it 12-7, his third home run of the season. On Gusich's first pitch, he matched Luce with solo shot to left. Kriner struck out, but Duursma added another hit.
Freshman Luke Howard replaced Gassner on the mound in the bottom of the sixth. Gassner, who was credited with his third win of the season, finished with five innings pitched, giving up six earned runs and striking out four. Howard pitched to five batters in the bottom of the sixth inning, giving up four runs. With a runner at first base, Howard was replaced by fellow freshman Billy Lester, who finished off the Wildcats in the first game of the doubleheader. Lester got the Boilermakers out of the sixth, forcing a fly out, which scored one more run.
Holding a 13-11 lead in the top of the seventh, the Boilermakers had one more chance to add some insurance runs. Cody Conway replaced Chris Spiering at pitcher. Blomberg led off the inning with a double to left field. He finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored. McIntyre then singled to right field to advance Blomberg over to third. McIntyre was 2-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored. With no outs and runners on the corners, David Harrell hit a fly ball to right field, which landed for a hit. He was credited with a fielder's choice as McIntyre was thrown out at second by the rightfielder. Blomberg went on to score, increasing the Purdue lead to 14-11. Harrell finished game two by going 4-for-6 with three runs scored and four RBI, his most productive game as a Boilermaker. Sickler was walked to put runners at first and second. Still with no outs, the Wildcats went with their fourth and final pitcher of the day, replacing Conway with Andy Adams. Adams' first batter was first baseman Luce. Luce drilled his third home run of the season, driving in Harrell and Sickler, increasing Purdue's lead to 17-11. Adams' next batter, Gusich, drilled a home run to centerfield for his second of the year. Luce finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four RBI. Gusich was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. Simon Klink pinch hit for Kriner and was walked. Mitch Koester then entered the game to pinch run for Klink. Duursma doubled to left field, scoring Gusich. Underwood stepped to the plate and singled, scoring Koester and Duursma. Blomberg stepped to the plate for the second time in the inning, and reached base on an error by the shortstop. McIntyre struck out swinging, completing the Boilermaker seventh inning, where they scored seven runs on six hits.
Lester came out and pitched a strong seventh inning, picking up the save. Underwood and Sickler switched positions in the outfield, as the Wildcats went 1-2-3 in the seventh. The Boilermakers now even their record at 14-14 and are 7-2 in the Big Ten. They face Northwestern tomorrow at 1 p.m. Boilermaker fans can listen to the game on the internet, at www.nur.org/sports.
NOTES-Each player in the starting lineup doubled for the Boilermakers, including John Gusich who had two ... the 23 hits were the most by the Boilermakers this season ... Purdue went through its entire lineup in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning, including 10 batters in the sixth inning and 12 batters in the seventh inning ... the last time Purdue scored more than 20 runs was a 27-5 win over IUPUI last year on April 25 ... the Boilermakers scored in double-digits once last season in Big Ten play, while they have scored in double-digits twice in nine conference games this season ... Gassner picked up his third consecutive win after starting his season 0-3 ... with Gassner and Blasko both getting wins today, all four members of the starting rotation now have three victories apiece ... Sickler, with his 15th double of the season, is just five doubles away from tying Jermaine Allensworth's season record for doubles (20) set in 1992 ... eight of the nine regular starters in Purdue's lineup are batting over .300 ... Mike Duursma (.242) is the lone member of the lineup not hitting .300, but is eight for his last 24 (.333) with three RBI and eight runs scored ... five members of the starting lineup are batting over .400 in Big Ten games ... Lester pitched his seventh scoreless appearance in 11 attempts this season ... Sickler extended his hitting streak to 11 games, a season-high ... Klink's walk was his eighth drawn this year ... Klink averages a walk per every four at-bats, best on the team.