April 20, 2005
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Purdue stranded 15 runners on base, 13 in the final seven innings, as the Boilermakers fell to Notre Dame in 12 innings on Wednesday at Coveleski Field, 9-7. Of the 15 left on base, nine were in scoring position.
The loss dips Purdue's season record to 11-22 while Notre Dame moves to 21-15.
A three-run second inning and a three-run fourth gave Purdue a 6-3 lead, countering a two-spot in the first by the Irish and a solo home run in the third for Notre Dame.
RBI singles in the second by Neal Gorka and John Hunter tied the game at 2-2, and Dane Wolfe dropped down a bunt with Gorka on third to push home the junior right fielder with the go-ahead run.
After the ND homer tied the game, Purdue took advantage of an Irish error to score three unearned runs, picking up a two-run single by Mitch Hilligoss and a run-scoring base hit by Andy Dahl.
Notre Dame chipped away at the Purdue lead, scoring a single run in the sixth inning. The Irish snatched the lead from the Boilermakers in the eighth inning with three runs, two of them unearned, to grab a 7-6 lead.
With All-America closer Kyle Doherty on the hill for the Irish, Purdue pushed across a run when Hunter singled up the middle to score Spencer Ingaldson from second.
With the game in extra frames, Purdue threatened in the top of the 12th as Dane Wolfe doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on a ground out. However, the following two batters were unable to drive the go-ahead run in from 90 feet away, giving Notre Dame extended life.
The Irish took that extra life and cashed it in when clean-up hitter Craig Cooper picked up his first hit of the evening, a towering home run over the left field wall, to end the game.
Andrew Groves was hit with the loss for the Boilermakers. The sophomore entered the game in the 10th inning and retired seven of the first eight batters he faced before yielding the roundtripper. Tony Langford, the starting designated hitter who entered the game on the mound in the 12th, picked up the win for the Irish.
Purdue hits the Big Ten road for a four-game series this weekend in East Lansing as the Boilermakers take on the Michigan State Spartans. The four-game set will be broadcast on internet-only radio via www.purduesports.com, with Carson Tucker and Mark Leddy on the call.