March 20, 2002
Box Score
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue defeated Indiana State 7-4 in the home opener at chilly Lambert Field to improve to 4-12 on the season.
Sean O'Neil earned his first win of the season with 7.1 strong innings of work, striking out five Sycamores in the outing, before Dustin Glant earned his second save. Kris Luce keyed the Boilermaker offensive attack, belting two doubles and one triple in a 3 for 4 performance that included three RBI.
Purdue jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Luce tripled home David Harrell and John Gusich off Sycamore starter Greg Wear.
Indiana State trimmed the margin to 2-1 in the second John Purdom scored on a dropped infield-fly rule pop up.
The Boilermakers answered in the bottom half of the second when Nick McIntyre singled home Mitch Koester.
ISU again trimmed the lead to one in the fifth when Chris Hall scored on a fielder's choice.
Purdue answered in the bottom of the inning, extending its lead to 5-2 after Luce scored on Andy Rempel's groundout and Simon Klink doubled home Adam Fazio.
The visiting Sycamores would not go away as they cut the Boilermaker lead to one run in the eighth on Tommy Jeffers RBI triple and Purdom's sac fly.
The Boilermakers added insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth when Luce doubled home two runs to extend the Purdue advantage to 7-4.
Purdue returns to action on Saturday, hosting Miami (Ohio) at 2 p.m. at Lambert Field. The Boilermakers play the second half of a home-and-home series with the Redhawks, travelling to Oxford for a 2 p.m. Sunday contest.
Additional Game Notes
-Sean O'Neil posted a career-high with 7.1 innings pitched, surpassing his previous high of 6.0 innings, set five times, including his previous start at Wofford on 3/11.
-Kris Luce belted the first triple of his career.
-Mitch Koester tied a career-high with 2 runs scored, set three times previously, last at Coastal Carolina on 3/15.
ISU 010 010 020 - 4 8 0
Purdue 210 020 02x - 7 9 0
W: O'Neil (1-1), L: Wear (1-2), SV: Glant (2)