May 15, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker Nine used a constant offensive attack and quality pitching to hand the Iowa Hawkeyes a 10-3 defeat in the series finale at Lambert Field on Sunday. The Purdue win moves the Boilermakers into second place in the Big Ten standings.
Purdue (21-16, 14-10) scored at least one run in six consecutive innings in a 13-hit attack, handing the Hawkeyes the series loss. Iowa won the series opener, but Purdue reeled off three straight wins to claim the weekend.
The Boilermakers are 9-3 in their last three Big Ten weekends.
Purdue starting pitching Dan Sattler (2-3) picked up the win, scattering 11 hits over 7.1 innings on the hill. Sattler allowed three runs and fanned five batters. Chris Toneguzzi and Trae Dauby pitched the final 1.2 innings to secure the win.
The Boilermakers opened the scoring in the third inning with two runs. Singles by Dane Wolfe and Mitch Hilligoss set up a sacrifice bunt by Mike Coles, moving the two baserunners to second and third. John Hunter ripped a single through the right side of the infield to plate the first two runs of the game.
Iowa tied the score with two runs in the fourth inning on a RBI base hit by Kris Welker and a run-scoring double by Dusty Napoleon.
Purdue regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth, this time for good, with two more runs. Andy Dahl lifted a sacrifice fly to center that scored Spencer Ingaldson to put Purdue up 3-2. With two down and Neal Gorka on third base after a double and Dahl's flyout, Dane Wolfe hit a grounder to third that was thrown away, allowing Gorka to score.
The Hawkeyes closed the deficit to 4-3 with a run in the fifth, but they would come no closer as the Purdue pitching and defense stifled any further scoring opportunities. Iowa stranded eight runners on base in the game, including five in scoring position.
The Old Gold and Black tacked on single runs in the fifth and sixth, building their lead to 6-3. A Coles triple to lead off the ffith resulted in a run when Eric Wolfe picked up the RBI with a grounder to second. In the sixth, Dahl connected for his third homer of the season, depositing an offering from Austin Seward over the left field wall.
The offense for Purdue kept rolling, scoring twice in the seventh. Coles double to left and moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Eric Wolfe and Hunter loaded the bases when both batters here hit by pitches, and everyone advanced 90 more feet on another wild pitch, allowing Coles to score. Ingaldson followed with a sacrifice fly to center to drive home Wolfe with Purdue's eighth run of the day.
The Boilermaker onslaught culminated in the eighth inning when Hilligoss picked up his third hit of the day, drilling a 2-0 pitch from David Conroy over the centerfield wall. Hilligoss's two-run home run, his second of the season, traveled an estimated 435 feet and raised his season batting average to .402. Hilligoss is one of three batters in the Big Ten to be hitting over .400 (Northwestern's Pat McMahon is hitting .411; Michigan's Jeff Kunkel is at .404).
On the afternoon, Hilligoss and Coles led the Boilermakers with three hits each. Hilligoss, Coles and Dane Wolfe each scored two runs, while the Boilermakers picked up ttwo RBI from Hilligoss, Hunter and Dahl.
Purdue takes to the road for two non-conference games vs. Cleveland State on Tuesday and Wednesday before completing the regular season next weekend with a four-game series at Indiana.
CURRENT BIG TEN CONFERENCE STANDINGS
ILLINOIS 19 9 .679PURDUE 14 10 .583IOWA 16 12 .571MINNESOTA 16 12 .571MICHIGAN 14 11 .560OHIO STATE 14 11 .560PENN STATE 12 16 .429NORTHWESTERN 11 17 .393MICHIGAN STATE 9 15 .375INDIANA 8 20 .286
Top six teams make Big Ten Tournament.Top two seeds receive first round bye.
Final Weekend Match-Ups--------------------------------------#2 Purdue at #10 Indiana#3 Iowa at #1 Illinois#4 Minnesota at #6 Ohio State#5 Michigan at #7 Penn State#9 Michigan State at #8 Northwestern