March 30, 2002
Game One Box Score
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Game Two Box ScoreDownload Free Acrobat Reader
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue swept Saturday's doubleheader at Penn State with 10-9 and 6-3 victories to improve to 2-1 on the young conference season. The Boilermakers have won six of their last seven games.
Game one was a seesaw battle highlighted by two Boilermaker home runs, a three-run shot by John Gusich and a two-run blast by Adam Fazio. Brent Coudron took the victory, the first of his collegiate career, after pitching two scoreless innings to conclude the contest.
Gusich's homer gave Purdue a 5-4 lead in the third inning, after each team scored twice in the first and Penn State scored twice in the second. In the fourth inning, Mitch Koester drove home Brad Kriner with a sacrifice fly to extend the Boilermaker advantage to 6-4. Fazio's two-run road-tripper in the sixth inning extended Purdue's lead to 8-5. The Nittany Lions then scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead at 9-8. In their final at-bat in the top of the seventh, the Boilermakers rallied to tie and score the eventual game-winning runs. Andy Rempel doubled home Gusich to knot the score at nine and later scored on a Kriner single, which proved to be the game-deciding hit.
Game two also saw Purdue rally for a victory. Josh Herman was solid in his first start as a Boilermaker in the second game of the doubleheader, but did not get a decision.
Purdue scored in the top of the first inning when David Harrell drove home Fazio on a sacrifice fly to right. Penn State answered scoring a run in the third and sixth inning. The Boilermakers again found themselves behind entering their final at-bat. Purdue scored five runs in the frame with help from four Nittany Lion errors to take a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh. Penn State scored one run in the inning, but Matt Skripsky shut the door, recorded the game's final out to earn his second save of the season. Luke Howard picked up the win in relief for Purdue.
The Boilermakers and Nittany Lions conclude their four-game series on Sunday with an 11 a.m. (ET) contest. Fans can hear the game live on the Internet via Penn State's athletics web site, www.gopsusports.com.
Additional Game Notes
-Brent Coudron's win was the first decision of his collegiate career in just second appearance.
-Josh Herman established personal bests as a Boilermaker with 4.2 innings pitched and five strikeouts in his first start.
-Luke Howard's win was his third career victory and first in relief.
-Matt Skripsky's save in game two was his second of the season, equaling his career total prior to 2002. He posted one save during both the 2000 and 2001 seasons.
-Andy Rempel's two stolen bases in game one are a new high as a Boilermaker. He tied his best with two runs scored in the contest, previously set on Feb. 24 at Texas-San Antonio.
-Nick McIntyre's two steals in game two equaled his career-best established in Friday's game at Penn State.
-With hits in both games, Adam Fazio is riding a seven-game hitting streak, dating to March 17 at Coastal Carolina.
Game One
Purdue 203 102 2 - 10 9 1
PSU 220 104 0 - 9 10 2
W: Coudron (1-0), L: Nash (1-3),
HR: Fazio (2), Gusich (2), DeRenzo.
Game Two
Purdue 100 000 5 - 6 6 1
PSU 001 001 1 - 3 5 4
W: Howard (1-1), L: Hamilton (1-2), SV: Skripsky (2)
HR: Milliron.