May 9, 2005
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Michigan pushed across a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat Purdue at Ray Fisher Stadium 5-4. The loss for the Boilermakers forced a split of the four-game Big Ten series.
Purdue is currently in third place in the Big Ten Conference with a league mark of 11-9, and 18-24 overall. Michigan is 10-11 in the conference and 30-14 overall.
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, Michigan put two runners on base with two down before Jeff Kunkel lofted a shallow flyball to left. Andy Dahl charged in for the Boilermakers and make a diving attempt to catch the ball but was unable to corral the shot, allowing Mike Schmidt to score from second with the winning run.
Michigan opened the scoring in the second inning with a single run against Purdue starter Dan Sattler, scoring on a bases loaded walk. Purdue evened the score in the next inning on an RBI single by John Hunter, which scored Mitch Hilligoss from second. Hilligoss led off the third inning with a double, snapping an 0-for-9 streak.
The Wolverines regained the lead in the fifth inning with one run, then added two in the sixth to stretch their advantage to 4-1.
The Boilermakers responded in the seventh with a two-spot. Tyler Heck picked up a one-out double to left field and Mike Coles was hit by a pitch to give Purdue two baserunners. Eric Wolfe lifted a double to left-center just out of the reach of a diving Wolverine centerfielder, driving home both runners.
In the eighth inning, Spencer Ingaldson doubled to open the inning and moved to third on a groundout. Osborn was hit by a pitch to give the Boilermakers runners on the corners with one down, but Purdue was unable to drove in the tying run.
With two outs in the ninth, Wolfe singled up the middle and gave way to pinch runner John Phegley. John Hunter lofted a fly out into shallow center that fell between two diving Wolverines for a double, allowing Phegley to come around from first with the tying run.
Purdue returns to action with a split doubleheader on Wednesday. Purdue will play a 1 p.m. game vs. Purdue North Central in Westville, Ind., before moving on to an evening game vs. Valparaiso. The Boilermakers and Crusaders will meet at the U.S. Steel Yard in Gary, home of the SouthShore RailCats. The night game can be heard on AM 1410 WLAS on at www.purduesports.com, with Chris Macaluso and Mark Leddy calling the action.