May 17, 2003
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Led by the bats of two freshmen, the Purdue nine swept a doubleheader from Michigan on Saturday afternoon at Lambert Field, 8-6 and 7-4. The Boilermaker wins upped Purdue's record to 28-26 and 12-18 in Big Ten action, securing a winning overall record for the 2003 season.
Freshmen John Hunter of West Lafayette and Eric Wolfe of Toronto, Ontario, each drove in five runs during the two games against the Wolverines. On the day, Hunter was 3-6 at the plate with a double and five ribbies while Wolfe batted 2-5 with five RBI.
The Boilermakers won the opener 8-6 after fighting back from a 5-0 deficit after one-and-a-half innings. Purdue tallied two runs in the second, three in the third and three in the fourth to give reliever Matt Skripsky (1-2) his first win on the season.
Wolfe's two-run single in the second put Purdue on the scoreboard, cutting into the Michigan 5-0 lead. Nick McIntyre singled home a run in the third before Hunter rolled an RBI grounder to second and Wolfe singled up the middle for an RBI.
Purdue claimed the lead in the fourth Brad Kriner drove in two runs witha single to make the score 7-6 Purdue. Hunter's base hit to center plated the game's final run.
Skripsky and Dustin Glant (save, 6) threw the final 4.0 innings in relief, yielding just one hit between the two pitchers.
In Game Two, Purdue jumped on the scoreboard first with four runs in the bottom of the first. Daniel Underwood tripled in a run and then scampered home on a wild pitch to make the score 2-0. Hunter batted with the bases loaded and two out and lined a single into right field to drive home two runs.
After Michigan rallied to cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth inning, the Boilermakers put the game away with three runs in the home half of the sixth. Hunter lofted a double into the right field corner to drive in Purdue's fifth run. With John Manuel on to pinch run for Hunter, Eric Wolfe layed down a sacrifice bunt towards first base. As UM first baseman Mike Sokol waited to tag out Wolfe, Manuel rounded third and scored behind McIntyre, who was on third.
Scott Byrnes (4-5) hurled his second complete of the season, both in conference play, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out two. The win was Byrnes' fourth in Big Ten action, his second in as many starts.
Purdue and Michigan complete the series and the 2003 regular season on Sunday afternoon with a 1 p.m. single game at Lambert Field.