April 23, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Dominating pitching, smooth fielding and clutch hitting came together on Friday afternoon at Lambert Field as the Purdue baseball team downed Michigan State, 3-2, in front of a crowd of 414. The win is the fourth consecutive for the Boilermakers, third straight in the Big Ten.
Junior Scott Byrnes (Cincinnati, Ohio) pitched into the ninth inning for the second week in a rowto come away with the win, his third of the season. Byrnes (3-3) struck out a career-high 11 batters and yielded just four hits in 8.1 innings.
Freshman Mitch Hilligoss (Windsor, Ill.) provided the Boilermakers with the offensive push they needed, collecting two hits - a double and a triple - and drove in all three Purdue runs.
Michigan State's Bryan Gale, the all-time strikeout leader for the Spartans, was hit with the loss. Gale (3-2) allowed three runs on seven hits in 8.0 innings, striking out nine.
Purdue is now 17-17 overall and 7-6 in the Big Ten, while Michigan State is 19-16 and 7-6 in conference.
Byrnes and Gale hooked up in a pictcher's duel that saw each right-hander plow through the opposing lineups in the first five innings. With the score still scoreless in the sixth, Purdue broke through against the Spartan hurler for the game's first run.
Senior Mitch Koester (Effingham, Ill.) was hit by Gale's first offering of the sixth inning and then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Mike Coles (Hammond, Ind.). Hilligoss plated the Boilermaker run with a double to left-center, bringing Koester around from second.
The Boilermakers strike again in the eighth when Mitch and Mitch teamed up again versus Gale. Koester singled to center to open the inning and was again moved 90 feet on a bunt by Coles. Hilligoss stepped to the plate and connected on a 1-2 pitch, sending Gale's offering over the centerfield wall. The two-run blast was Hilligoss' first home run of his collegiate career.
Trailing 3-0 in the ninth, Michigan State put together a small offensive uprising. Erik Morris walked with one out and James Moreno doubled down the left field line, chasing Byrnes from the mound. Reliever Trae Dauby (So., Dale, Ind.) coaxed an RBI ground out from Ryan Basham before allowing a single to Sean Walker, making the score 3-2. With the tying run on first, Dauby got pinch-hitter David Miller to pop up on the infiend to end the game.
Sophomore John Hunter (West Lafayette, Ind.) singled in the second inning to increase his hitting streak to 10 games, the third-longest streak for the Boilermakers this season. Hilligoss hit in 12 straight (March 14-April 2) and Coles hit safely in 11 consecutive (March 27-April 11).
Purdue and Michigan State meet on Lambert Field for a double header on Saturday afternoon. First pitch of Game One is slated for 1PM.