May 14, 2005
Friday's Box Score
Saturday's Game One Box Score
Saturday's Game Two Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue Boilermakers gave the home crowd a heart-stopping performance, winning twice on Saturday vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes in the bottom of the seventh inning at Lambert Field. Purdue is now 13-10 in the Big Ten, while Iowa is 16-11.
Purdue scored three times off Iowa closer Tim Gudex, last week's Big Ten Pitcher of the Week, to claim the first game of Saturday's doubleheader 8-7. In the nightcap, the Boilermakers had a runner on first with two down in a tied game when pinch runner John Phegley advanced around the bases on wild pitches, scoring the winning run in a 4-3 victory.
Witht the final game of the day tied 3-3, Eric Osborn single to left field, but was erased when Dane Wolfe's sacrifice attempt resulted in a fielder's choice. Wolfe was run for at first base with Phegley who, with two down, moved to second on a wild pitch by reliever Kevin Sunderman. A second Sunderman wild pitch allowed Phegley to gallop to third before Mike Coles was walked. With Eric Wolfe at the plate, Sunderman bounced a pitch in front of catcher Ben Geelan. The offering caromed behind the catcher, allowing Phegley to scamper home with the winning run.
Iowa scored first in the game, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Andy Cox. Purdue responded with three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Neal Gorka singled to lead off the second frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Andy Dahl. Osborn singled, scoring Gorka from second with the first Purdue run. Dane Wolfe's sacrifice moved Osborn into scoring position, and a double to left by Mitch Hilligoss drove home the second run. Coles followed with a single to plate Hilligoss from second base.
Solo home runs in the fourth inning by Cox and Geelan tied the score at 3-3, setting up Purdue for the seventh-inning rally.
Brent Coudron evened his record at 4-4 with the win, while Casey O'Rourke (2-3) was hit with the loss. Coudron pitched his third complete game of the season, yielding six hits while striking out five.
In the earlier game, Purdue trailed 7-5 heading to the bottom of the seventh with Gudex on the mound. With one out, John Hunter singled to right and was removed for a pinch runner, Matt Bush. Spencer Ingaldson singled through the left side of the infield and Gorka followed with a base hit to right-center, scoring Bush and moving Ingaldson to third. Phegley was inserted to run for Gorka and moved to second when Dahl drew a walk. With the bases loaded, Gudex hit Osborn with a pitch to force home Ingaldson with the tying run. After a strikeout, Hilligoss ripped a game-winning single up the middle, plating Phegley with the winning run.
Once again, Iowa had the initial lead, scoring three times in the first inning. The Hawkeyes used two hits and a Boilermaker miscue to grab the 3-0 lead.
Purdue plated four runs in the second inning on two hits, capped by a two-run single by Hunter which drove home Tyler Heck and Hilligoss. Hilligoss had a two-run single of his own earlier in the frame, scoring Dahl and Osborn.
The Boilermakers added a run in the third to extend their lead to two runs. After a walk to Dahl, Osborn singled to left-center, moving Dahl to third. Heck hit a grounder to short but beat the doubleplay attempt at first, driving in Dahl in the process.
Iowa scored twice in the fourth, once in the sixth and again in the seventh, seemingly icing the game with the Hawkeye closer on the hill. Gudex has twice been named Big Ten Pitcher of the Week since the conference schedule has started in early April.
Trae Dauby (1-4) was credited with the win for Purdue, pitching 2/3 of an inning in relief of starter Mitch Pruemer. Gudex was hit with the loss, moving his record to 9-4.
The Two Purdue wins followed the completion of a game from Friday evening that was suspended in the eighth inning with Iowa leading 10-2. After play resumed in the eighth on Saturday, the Boilermakers scored four times in the eighth inning and once more in the ninth to close the losing deficit to three. Despite the loss, the late surge gave the Boilermakers momentum for the rest of the afternoon.
The series' first game began just past 3 p.m. on Friday and Iowa quickly grabbed a 4-0 lead, scoring three times in the second and once in the third. Purdue answered with two runs in the home half of the third inning on a RBI single by Gorka and a wild pitch which allowed another run to score.
Leading 4-2, Iowa scored three more times in the fourth, once in the sixth and twice in the eighth before the game was suspended.
The ballgame had been stopped in the fifth inning for 51 minutes dues to rain. The rain began to fall again in the seventh and became heavy in the eighth inning. Purdue put the first three batters it sent to the plate in the eighth on base before the unpires stopped play.
When play continued at 12:43 p.m. on Saturday, Dahl's fielder's choice drove home Hunter from third. Osborn picked up an RBI with a single, as did Heck. With two runners on base, Hilligoss singled through the infield to plate another run to make the score 10-6. The rally was stopped when the Boilermakers grounded into a 6-4-3 doubleplay.
Scott Byrnes (5-4) was hit with the loss for the Boilermakers, allowing seven earned runsin 6.0 innings. Travis Sweet moved to 3-3 with the win for the Hawkeyes.
Purdue and Iowa will play the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lambert Field. The game will be broadcast on WLAS 1410 AM and via the internet at www.purduesports.com, with Kyle Charters and Keith Thomas calling the action. Six Boilermaker seniors will be honored before the game as they make their final appearance at Lambert Field.