March 19, 2004
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Pitchers Scott Byrnes (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Driscoll (Sr., Mishawaka, Ind.) combined for a dominating performance on the mound Friday night as they led the Boilermaker baseball team to a 6-0 win over the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Byrnes started the game for Purdue and went the first seven innings before turning it over to Driscoll, who pitched the last two.
Purdue jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the game with a run in the top of the second. Third baseman Simon Klink singled up the middle and came around to score on a two-out double off the wall in left field by second baseman Eric Osborn (Fr., Fishers, Ind.), who collected three hits in the game.
The Boilermakers added to their lead in the fourth as first baseman Eric Wolfe (So., Toronto, Ontario) led off with a single to center field. After stealing second, Wolfe was driven home on Osborn's second double of the night to make it 2-0.
Center fielder Mike Coles (Jr., Hammond, Ind.) started the top of the fifth inning with a single and moved to third on a base hit by left fielder Mitch Hilligoss (Fr., Windsor, Ill.), who also turned in a three-hit performance. Hilligoss advanced on a wild pitch making it second and third with no outs. Catcher Ben Fritz (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) followed by dropping a bunt down the third base line allowing Coles to come home with Purdue's third run while Hilligoss advanced to third. Hilligoss would then score on a single by Klink for a 4-0 advantage.
In the top of the ninth shortstop Mitch Koester drew a lead off walk and came around to score as Coles drove a double to the gap in left center field. With one out Fritz connected for a single that was misplayed in left allowing Coles to score, bringing the score to 6-0.
Jacksonville State's lone threat came in the bottom of the second as Winston Pearson led off with single and moved to third when Scott Smith followed with a base hit of his own. Smith then stole a base to make it second and third with nobody out. Byrnes did much more than pitch his way out of the jam as he ended the inning by retiring the next three Gamecock batsmen in order and did not allow a base runner for the remainder of his performance. By the time Byrnes turned the game over to the bullpen at the start of the eighth inning, he had retired 18 consecutive hitters.
In his seven innings on the mound, Byrnes allowed just three hits while recording a career-high ten strike outs and issuing no walks. The seven innings of work matches Byrnes' career high, a mark he had achieved twice prior to Friday's outing. His most recent seven inning appearance came last season against Michigan on May 17. In the final two innings of the game, Driscoll allowed only one hit and struck out a batter while also allowing no walks.
By recording the win Byrnes improved his season record to 1-1 while Purdue moved to 4-8. Jacksonville State fell to 6-11 with the loss. The shut out was the second of the season for the Boilermakers, as they also blanked Lipscomb on Feb. 28. The Boilermakers and Gamecocks will continue their three-game series on Saturday with a 3 p.m. EST contest at Rudy Abbott Field.