March 16, 2003
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Purdue's bats found life again on Sunday against Middle Tennessee State as the Boilermaker baseball team used a 19-hit attack to post a 14-3 win over the Blue Raiders at Reese Smith Field in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The Purdue nine improved its record on the season to 6-4 while Middle Tennessee State falls to 6-9.
The Boilermakers opened the game with a four-run first inning thanks to four hits and one MTSU error. With one out, John Manuel laced a double into the right-center field gap and advanced to third on a balk by Blue Raider starting pitcher Travis Horschel. Daniel Underwood was hit by a pitch and stole second before Chad Reeves' single to center drove home Manuel and moved Underwood to third. Simon Klink followed with a basehit to right that scored Underwood with the Boilermakers' second run. One out later with runners on second and third, Nick McIntyre singled through the right side of the infield to plate Brad Kriner, running for Reeves, and Klink.
In the top of the second inning, Purdue added another inning when Mitch Koester led off with a double to left-center and moved up a base on Andy Rempel's sacrifice bunt to third. Manuel lofted a sacrifce fly that was dropped by the MTSU right fielder, scoring Koester and increasing the Purdue lead to 5-0.
Purdue ran the score to 9-0 in the top of the third after Kriner opened the frame with a single and moved to second with one out on John Hunter's groundball that was misplayed by MTSU's shortstop. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before McIntyre ripped a double to the right field wall, scoring two runs. Eric Wolfe's single through the right side pushed McIntyre to third, chasing Horschel from the mound in favor of Chris Mobley. Koester greeted the new Raider hurler with an RBI single to right field and was followed by an RBI double off the bat of Rempel.
In the home half of the third, Jeff Beacham chopped a double down the left field line and scored on Troy Harp's two-base hit to left center. After a fielder's choice and error on Purdue, Boilermaker starter Chris Toneguzzi coaxed Chuck Akers to hit into a 1-6-3 double play before striking out Marcus Taylor to end the MTSU threat.
McIntyre drilled his first home run of the season deep over the right field wall to lead off the fifth inning for the Boilermakers, taking the Purdue advantage to 10-1. With one out, Koester drew a free pass to first and scored on the next pitch on a triple to left-center by Remple. Manuel laced a single passed a drawn in shortstop to score Rempel from third, making the score 12-1. Kriner lofted a single to right-center, driving home Manuel with Purdue's 13th run of the game.
MTSU inched closer with a two-run sixth inning. Against Purdue reliever Jay Buente, Jerry Knox walked to start the inning and went to second on a single by Brett Carroll. A one-out double by Shane Kemp scored Knox from second and advanced Carroll to third. Carroll scored on a grounder off the bat of Beacham, drawing the score to 13-3 Purdue.
An eighth-inning two-out rally for Purdue began when Wolfe singled to left field and moved to third on a single to right by Ryan Dallas, who had replaced Koester in the lineup in the sixth inning. A passed ball allowed each runner to advance a base, with Wolfe scoring on the play.
Nick McIntyre led the Purdue attack with five RBI, followed by Rempel and Manuel with two each. Seven Boilermakers had multiple hits in the game, led by McIntyre with three, including his fifth inning home run. Others with two hits in the contest were Rempel, Manuel, Kriner, Klink, Wolfe and Koester.
Chris Toneguzzi (1-0) picked up his first win in his first collegiate start, limiting MTSU to one run on three hits over five innings of work. Toneguzzi struck out five Blue Raider batters while not surrendering a walk.
After an inning on relief by Buente, Trae Dauby pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth inning, yielding one hit and striking out one. Jessee Krause closed the game with a 1-2-3 final inning.
Purdue returns to the diamond on Monday at 3 p.m. as the Boilermakers take on the Belmont Bruins in Nashville, Tenn.