Feb. 26, 2005
BOCA RATON, Fla. - For the second time in two days, the Boilermakers lost in the late innings to the 34th-ranked Florida Atlantic Owls, dropping a 5-4 final in front of a crowd of 338 at FAU Field. FAU has now won six games this season, all in come-from-behind fashion
Purdue is now 0-2 on the young season, while FAU improves to 6-2. Mike Crotta pitched seven innings for the winning, his second of the season. The loss went to Trae Dauby as the Boilermaker reliever allowed two runs in 1.1 innings.
Making his first appearance on the hill since April 5, 2003, vs. Illinois and his first start since throwing a complete game vs. Indiana on May 14, 2002, Purdue starting pitcher Brent Coudron tossed five innings, yielding four hits and three runs, striking out two and issuing three free passes.
The Boilermakers jumped on the scoreboard immediately on a double to right by Mike Coles and an RBI two-base hit to left-center by Andy Dahl, his fifth RBI of the season. Dahl scored later in the frame on a single to left off the bat of Spencer Ingaldson.
After retiring the Owls in the bottom of the first, Neal Gorka wasted little time in adding another Boilermaker run, drilling the first pitch he saw from starter Mike Crotta over the centerfield fence 400 feet away from the plate.
FAU responded in the home half of the second with three runs to tie the game. Brian Lipman led off the inning with a single and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Robbie Widlansky. With two out, Alex Fonseca tripled to left-center as Coles hit the wall trying to field the ball. Bobby Diliberto followed with a drive to center that sent Coles back to the fence. Trying to make the catch, the Purdue centerfielder hit his head on a fence pole and was knocked motionless to the ground as Diliberto circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run. Coles was removed from the game, but did leave the field under his own power.
The pitching staffs settled down for four scoreless innings before the Boilermakers struck for a run in the seventh.
Gorka lined a double to the wall in right-center with one out and scored from second base on a single by Mike Marx. The RBI base hit by Marx was his first as a Boilermaker.
Once again, FAU wasted little time in responding as the Owls plated two runs in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out double to right-center by Lipman. The two-base hit scored Mike McBryde from third and Tim Mascia from first.
The Boilermakers threatened in the eighth, loading the bases with one out. A single by Eric Wolfe sandwiched between errors by FAU shortstop Alex Fonseca filled the sacks with Boilermakers, but reliever Allen Knight got Spencer Ingaldson to line into a double play to get out of the inning unscathed.
In the ninth, McBryde moved from centerfield to the hill for the final three outs to close the game and pick up his third save of the season.
Purdue and Florida Atlantic conclude the three-game set on Sunday at FAU Field. The game, originally scheduled for 1 p.m., has been moved to an 11 a.m. first pitch due to a weather forecast that calls for severe thunderstorms throughout the day. Starting pitchers for Sunday's contest will be Mitch Pruemer (0-0) for Purdue and Chris Salberg (0-1) for FAU.