Feb. 22, 2002
Box Score
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.-The 23rd-ranked Purdue Boilermakers opened their 2002 season with a 4-1 victory at Texas-San Antonio Friday night.
"We did not go into this weekend looking for any moral victories from our first series," said head coach Doug Schreiber. "Our focus was to win the first game and move on from there. We did not play our best game tonight, but our guys went out and competed and that is all you can ask."
Rightfielder Daniel Underwood led off the game with a walk, stole second, and later scored on a Kris Luce sacrifice fly to give the Boilermakers an early 1-0 lead.
Underwood drove in Mitch Koester, extending his hit streak to 13 games in the process, to give Purdue a 2-0 lead in the fifth. Underwood scored on an errant throw home from UTSA shortstop Matt Srp, and Nick McIntyre, who went 3 for 3, added a sacrifice fly in the inning, giving the Boilermakers a 4-0 lead.
Right-hander Chadd Blasko shut down the Roadrunners, pitching 7.2 innings, while scattering five hits and striking out six to earn the victory. The junior threw seven shutout innings before yielding his lone earned run in the eighth. Matt Skripsky threw 1.1 scoreless innings to earn the save.
"Chadd pitched a good game for us," said Schreiber. "He minimized hits and got us deep into the game."
Purdue has won consecutive season-openers in Texas, defeating top-ranked Rice 5-2, last season en route to capturing the Coca-Cola Classic title in Houston.
The Boilermakers and Roadrunners resume the series Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. (CT). Sophomore Billy Lester is scheduled to take the mound for Purdue.
Additional Game Notes
-Tonight's game was the first meeting between Purdue and UTSA.
-Purdue has won six of their last eight non-conference road games and 19 of their last 23 road contests (both dating to last season).
-The Boilermakers are 10-4 in February games dating to the 2000 season.
-Daniel Underwood extended his hit streak to 13 games, dating to 4/29/01 at Indiana.
-Matt Skripsky recorded his third career save and his first since 2/18/01 vs. Wake Forest.
Purdue 100 030 000 - 4 9 0
UTSA 000 000 010 - 1 5 3
W: Blasko (1-0), L: Srp (0-1), SV: Skripsky (1)