April 17, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - Purdue got quality pitching performances in both games of a double header against Northwestern on Saturday, but could gather just one win as the teams split the twin bill at Rocky Miller Park. The Wildcats clipped Purdue in the opener 3-1, but the Boilermaker bats came to life in the night cap in a 9-3 victory.
With the split, Purdue stands at 14-17 overall and 5-6 in the Big Ten Conference. Northwestern has an identical 5-6 conference mark, and is 15-15-1 on the season.
In the day's opener, Northwestern scored two first inning runs against Boilermaker starting pitcher Dan Sattler (West Lafayette, Ind.) and used that two-spot to post a 3-1 win. Sattler (3-3) was hit with his third loss of the season, yielding just two earned runs in 5.2 innings, striking out two.
The Boilermakers were limited to just four hits in the game by Dan Konecny (3-5). The lone Purdue run came in the sixth inning when John Hunter (West Lafayette, Ind.) blasted an outside offering from Konecny over the right-centerfield wall for his third homer of the year.
Needing a win to keep the hopes of a weekend split alive, Purdue tattooed Wildcat hurler Dan Brauer for six runs in five innings and cruised to a 9-3 win.
The Boilermakers allowed a run in the first, but took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the third inning. Andy Dahl (Fair Oaks, Calif.) singled through the right side of the infield to tie the game, bringing home Spencer Ingaldson (Rapid City, S.D.) with the tying run. Simon Klink (Auburn, Ind.) gave Purdue the lead with an RBI bunt that scored Mitch Koester (Effingham, Ill.) from the third. Hunter followed with a double down the right field line to push home the third run in the person of Dahl.
Northwestern cut the two-run Purdue lead in half with a run in the fourth, but the Boilermakers answered again with a three-run fifth inning. This time, however, the runs came on one swing as Klink took the first offering he saw and launched a long ball over the left-centerfield wall for a three-run home run. Klink's second homer of the season, and third of his career, scored Koester and Dahl in front of him.
Purdue scored a run in the sixth to move to a 7-2 lead on a RBI single up the middle by Mike Coles (Hammond, Ind.). Coles' base hit scored Ingaldson from second base after the catcher had singled and moved to second on a fielder's choice bunt by Koester.
After a run in the home half of the sixth made the score 7-3, Purdue iced the game with two runs in the top of the seventh. Klink doubled to left, moved to third on a ground out and scored the Boilermakers' eighth run on a wild pitch by Chris Davidson, Northwestern's third pitcher of the game. Eric Wolfe (Toronto, Ontario) capped the afternoon with a single to left-center, scoring Eric Osborn (Fishers, Ind.).
Brian Karpel (Lakewood, Ohio) was the benficiary of the nine-run afternoon, evening his season record to 2-2 with the win on the mound. Karpel pitched a complete game, Purdue's first of the season, allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out three.
Klink had the hot bat in the second game, batting 2-for-3 with a double, his ninth, and a home run. The senior scored two runs and drove home four. Also contributing two hits in the game were Dahl (2-4) and Hunter (2-4).
Purdue and Northwestern complete the four-game Big Ten series on Sunday with a 1PM contest at Rocky Miller Park.