Feb. 24, 2006
LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball did something on Friday it hadn't done since Feb. 22, 2002.
With clutch hitting and a superb performance on the mound, the Boilermakers won on opening day, defeating Louisiana-Lafayette 5-1 on Day One of the 2006 Mardi Gras Ball Baseball Classic at M.L. "Tigue" Moore Field. The win was Purdue's first opening day victory since a 4-1 win over Texas-San Antonio in 2002.
Senior hurler Jay Buente (1-0) dominated the Ragin' Cajun batters all evening, allowing just three hits while striking out a career-high 11 batters in eight innings of work to pick up the victory.
Buente did not surrender a hit until the fifth inning, an inning that saw Louisiana-Lafayette tie the game at 1-1 before the Boilermakers opened up the offensive attack. The Purdue right-hander's 11 strikeouts were tied for the sixth-most in a game by a Boilermaker pitcher since the 1991 season.
With the game tied 1-1 in the sixth inning, Purdue jumped on Cajun starter Hunter Moody (1-1) for two runs on three hits. A triple to right-center by senior Eric Wolfe broke the tie, scoring junior Spencer Ingaldson from first after the catcher's leadoff single. Senior John Hunter followed with a line drive into the gap in left-center for a double, driving in Wolfe to give the Boilermakers a 3-1 lead.
Purdue opened the game with a run in the first inning as junior Mitch Hilligoss led off the contest with a single up the middle. Hilligoss swiped second base and moved to third on an Ingaldson sacrifice bunt. Wolfe followed with his first RBI of the game on a groundball down the first base line, allowing Hilligoss to sprint home for a Purdue 1-0 lead.
The Cajuns knotted the game at 1-1 in the fifth on an RBI single by Jameson Parker. Parker's base hit scored John McCarthy, who reached on a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch by Buente. It was on of three wild pitches by the Boilermaker pitcher.
Leading 3-1, Purdue added two insurance runs in the seventh on an RBI base hit by Ingaldson and a safety squeeze by Eric Wolfe. Freshman Dane Wolfe led off the inning with a single and advanced 90 feet on a bunt by Kyle Reesing. Hilligoss singled up the middle to give Purdue runners on the corners, setting up Ingaldson's single that plated the younger Wolfe and moved Hilligoss to third. The elder Wolfe dropped down a perfect squeeze and Hilligoss scampered home with the game's final run.
For the game, Purdue ripped 13 hits off five Cajun pitchers, led by two-hit performances by Hilligoss, Ingaldson, Hunter and Dane Wolfe. Eric Wolfe drove in three of Purdue's runs.
Purdue also had three doubles and a triple, including two-baggers by Jordan Comadena and Reesing. Comadena's double to right was his first collegiate hit, and Reesing's came on the first pitcher the new Boilermaker saw in a Purdue uniform after transferring from Rice University this year.
Senior Trae Dauby closed the game with a two-strikeout ninth inning. The appearance was the right-hander's 65th of his career, tying Andy Helmer (1997-2000) for third on the Purdue career record list.
The Boilermakers return to the diamond on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. (Central) for a contest with Louisiana-Monroe. The game between the Boilermakers and Indians can be heard on WLAS 1410 AM in the Lafayette area and world wide on the internet at PurdueSports.com.