March 15, 2005
HOUSTON, Texas - Purdue met its fourth straight ranked opponent on Tuesday night as No. 7 Rice handed the Boilermakers a 9-1 defeat at Reckling Park. Three Owl pitchers combined to strike out 13 Boilermakers while limiting Purdue to five hits. Rice improved to 15-5 and Purdue dropped to 1-9.
Purdue opened the scoring with a quick run in the top of the first. Mike Coles led off the game with a walk and then stole second. A passed ball moved Coles to third and he came around to score on a two-out single by Neal Gorka. Rice starter Bobby Bell (1-0) settled in after Gorka's single, allowing just four hits over six innings with seven strikeouts.
Rice took advantage of a Boilermaker error in its half of the first and plated four two-out runs. Adam Hale drove in one with a single, followed by a two-out double from Josh Rodriguez. Danny Lehmann singled home the Owls' fourth run of the inning. With a 6-1 lead in the sixth, Rice added a pair on Hale's two-run home run. The Owls scored another two-out run in the eighth to push the lead to 9-1.
Dan Sattler (0-1) made his first start of the season for Purdue, throwing four innings and allowing seven hits and six runs, two of which were earned. At the plate, Gorka connected for two hits, his seventh multi-hit game of the season. In the fourth, Mitch Hilligoss dropped down a bunt that he beat out for an infield hit. With his bunt single, the sophomore shortstop has hit safely in all ten games for the Boilermakers.
Purdue will continue its eight-game Texas trip on Wednesday with a game against Lamar at Vincent-Beck Stadium in Beaumont. The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.