May 14, 2004
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue baseball team struggled on the mound, in the field and at the plate on Friday evening as the Boilermakers were defeated by the Iowa Hawkeyes, 9-2, at Duane Banks Field in Iowa City.
Purdue was out-hit 9-7, allowed six walks and committed two errors, providing the Hawkeyes all the fuel they would need to knock the Boilermakers down to 24-24 overall and 13-12 in the Big Ten. Iowa is now 16-31 on the season, 9-16 in conference play.
Iowa never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning and adding three runs to the lead in the third, all against Purdue starter Scott Byrnes (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio). Four base hits in the third inning, accompanied by an error on a ground ball to third, gave the Hawkeyes a 4-0 lead.
The top of the fourth was led off for the Boilermakers with a 3-2 drive over the right field wall by freshman Mitch Hilligoss (Windsor, Ill.), his second homer of the season. The longball cut Iowa's lead to 4-1. The three-run deficit would be as close as the Boilermakers would make the gap for the remainder of the game.
Iowa scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth, then plated two more in the seventh to seal the win. For the game, the Hawkeyes would score in six of the eight innings in which they batted and were retired in order only once.
The second Boilermaker run came in the seventh inning. Trailing 7-1, sophomore John Hunter (West Lafayette, Ind.) singled and was replaced at first by pinch runner Matt Bush (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.). With two outs, junior Andy Dahl (Fair Oaks, Calif.) singled to right to move Bush to third and Iowa pitcher Nathan Johnson uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Bush to scamper home.
Johnson scored the win, his sixth, by pitching a complete game and striking out seven. Byrnes was hit with the loss, yielding six runs, four earned, in five innings.
The Boilermakers and Hawkeyes meet for a double header on Saturday at 2 p.m.