April 2, 2005
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Nine swept a twinbill against the Nittany Lions of Penn State on Saturday afternoon at Lambert Field, winning the night cap 9-3 after grabbing a come-from-behind victory in Game One, 6-4.
The Boilermakers are 2-1 in the Big Ten Conference and 7-14 overall, including 5-1 at Lambert Field. Penn State is now 1-2 in conference action and 12-9 for the season.
Purdue received a complete-game win from the right arm of senior hurler Mitch Pruemer (3-3) in the first game of the afternoon. Pruemer went 7.0 innings, scattering nine hits and allowing three earned runs while striking out five.
In Game Two, junior southpaw Brent Coudron (2-2) picked up the win with 5.0 innings on the hill, yielding two earned runs and striking out two. Fellow juniors Jay Buente and Chris Toneguzzi combined for the final two shutout innings to secure the victory.
In 14 innings on the mound, the Purdue pitching staff did not issue a base on balls.
The Boilermakers won Game One after rallying from a 3-0 deficit, scoring two runs in the second and four in the fifth.
Down by three in the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Eric Osborn singled to center with two down and scored from first on a two-base hit down the right field line by sophomore Spencer Ingaldson. On the following pitch, junior Tyler Heck doubled off the wall in left to plate Ingaldson and draw Purdue to within one run.
Penn State added a run in the fourth to take a 4-2 lead before Purdue struck in the fifth.
Leading off the inning, senior Mike Coles drew a walk and advanced to second on a single by senior Andy Dahl. Sophomore Mitch Hilligoss layed down a sacrifice bunt, but PSU third baseman Scott Gaffney launched a throw down the right field line, allowing Coles to score. With runners at second and third, Hunter singled on the infield to drove home Dahl with the tying run. With two out, Osborn lofted a double to center to score Hilligoss and Hunter with the winning runs.
Penn State starter Craig Clark was hit with the loss, allowing six runs, five earned, over 4.0 innings. Clark struck out four and walked one, while hitting two batters and throwing one wild pitch.
Purdue struck first in Game Two, and did so in a big way, scoring five runs to give the Boilermakers a lead they would not relinquish.
Dahl led off the game with a base hit to left and moved to second on a ground out. Junior Neal Gorka singled through the left side of the infield to move Dahl to third, and junior Eric Wolfe's base hit to left drove home Dahl with the game's first run. Gorka and Wolfe pulled off the first of two successful double steals in the game, giving Purdue runners in scoring position for Ingaldson, who singled on a 1-0 pitch to score Gorka. Osborn doubled to left to plate Wolfe and Coles followed with a single up the middle to score two runs and end the inning with Purdue up 5-0.
Penn State's Scott Gummo commected on a two-run home run in the top of the second, his second big fly of the afternoon and fourth of the season, to inch the Lions closer, 5-2.
However, Purdue would respond immediately with a two-run second inning of its own. With one down, Hilligoss singled and moved to second on a balk by PSU starter Josh Palm (1-1). A Gorka grounder moved Hilligoss to third with two out and Wolfe doubled down the line in left to plate the Boilermakers' sixth run. Hunter would pick up another RBI with a single up the middle, scoring Wolfe amd recpaturing Purdue's five-run lead.
The fifth inning saw Penn State scratch for a run on three hits, the run scoring on a double by Matt Lewis, who entered the weekend ranked third in the Big Ten in batting with a .441 average.
Not to be outdone, Purdue would add two runs in the sixth inning to close the scoring at 9-3. Wolfe lined a double high off the wall in right-center and scored two batters later when Ingaldson picked up his fourth hit of the day, lifting a triple over the head of centerfielder Brian Ernst. With Ingaldson sliding safely into third, the relay throw from second baseman Jim Leitgeb skipped past third base and into the Purdue dugout, allowing Ingaldson to walk home with the game's final run.
For the afternoon, Ingaldson was 5-for-7 at the plate, scoring three runs and driving in three. Osborn collected three hits in six at-bats, picking up his fifth and sixth double of the year, while Wolfe was 4-for-7 with three doubles, three runs scored and two RBI.
Purdue and Penn State meet for the series finale at noon on Sunday at Lambert Field. The expected pitching matchup sends Purdue's Dan Sattler (1-1, 1.74) against Penn State's Alan Stidfole (2-1, 4.88).