May 28, 2005
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Purdue baseball season came to a close on Saturday afternoon at the 2005 Big Ten Tournament as the Boilermakers fell to Minnesota 9-7. Purdue finishes the season with a 27-30 record.
The Gophers opened the scoring in the second inning, pushing across a run against starter Dan Sattler. A leadoff single by Mike Mee came around to score on a base hit by Tony Leseman.
Mother Nature helped the Boilermakers take the lead in the fourth inning as Neal Gorka lifted a routine flyball into right field was was blown over the wall for his seventh home run of the season, scoring Eric Wolfe before him.
A four-run fifth inning by the Boilermakers extended their lead to 6-1, highlighted by a bases-loaded double that scored emptied the base paths.
Sattler ran into trouble in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases on a walk and two singles before allowing a two-run double to center by Andy Hunter. Trae Dauby came out of the bullpen and allowed a two-run single by Mike Mee. An RBI groundout later in the inning by Leseman plated a fifth run in the inning, tying the score at 6-6.
Minnesota regained their original lead when Dauby loaded the bases on two singles and a hit batter. Chris Toneguzzi came into the game to face David Hrncirik, who looped a single into right past the reach of Eric Osborn for two runs and an 8-6 Gopher advantage.
Trailing by two, the Old Gold and Black inched closer with a run off Gopher closer John Gaub in the seventh. Coles drew a free pass to lead off the frame and came around to score with two down on a single to left by Spencer Ingaldson.
A run in the bottom of the eighth for the Gophers pushed the lead back to two. Mitch Pruemer, Purdue's fourth pitcher of the game, allowed three consecutive hits before leaving in favor of Allan Donato with the bases loaded. Donato allowed a sacrifice fly to Hrncirik, but limited the damage to just that run.
Dauby was hit with the loss in the game, dropping him to 2-6 on the season. Andy Peters was credited with the win, moving him to 4-1, while Luke Beresford picked up his first save.
2005 marked just the second year that Purdue played four games in the Big Ten Tournament, having gone 2-2 in 1987. Overall, in 10 appearances in the postseason special, the Boilermakers are 8-20.