March 26, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers are off to their best start under skipper Doug Schreiber, winning 14-0 on Sunday over Chicago State at Lambert Field.
Purdue is now 11-5 on the season, the best 16-game start to a season during the Doug Schreiber era. The former top start under Schreiber, who took over as the Boilermakers' head coach in 1999, was a 10-6 record in 2003. The best 16-game start to a season in Purdue history is 14-2 in 1993.
Purdue scored four runs in an inning three times during the game, pounding out 17 hits vs. four Cougar pitchers. The Boilermakers were led at the plate by Mitch Hilligoss and Eric Wolfe, who each had perfect 3-3 days at the plate with two runs scored and two runs batted in.
On the mound, Ricky Heines picked up his first win as a Boilermaker, pitching four innings in a predetermined short start. Heines (1-0) struck out four, yielded three hits and walked two in Purdue's third shutout of the season.
Brent Coudron, Eric Van Matre, and Chris Toneguzzi came out of the Boilermaker bullpen to complete the shutout victory. Coudron fanned two over three innings and Toneguzzi struck out three of the four batters he faced in the ninth inning.
Purdue grabbed a 4-0 lead in the second inning on an RBI single by Eric Osborn, a two-run double by Hilligoss, and a sacrifice fly by Eric Wolfe. That would be all the offense the Boilermakers would need, and it would not be all the team would get.
An Osborn sacrifice fly in the third made the score 5-0 and led into the next four-run inning for the Old Gold and Black.
In the fourth inning, a double to center by Spencer Ingaldson scored Hilligoss from first, and was followed up when John Hunter drove in a run with a ground ball on the infield. Osborn doubled in Wolfe with the third run of the frame, and Jeff Mojzik had an infield base hit to drive home Purdue's ninth run of the game.
An RBI base hit by Eric Wolfe started the third four-run frame in the fifth, and was followed by a bases-loaded triple to centerfield by Neal Gorka. Gorka had eight RBI during the three-game series vs. the Cougars, and had a 1.500 slugging percentage in eight official at-bats.
In the series, Purdue scored 35 runs and had a team batting average of .429, while the Boilermaker pitching staff posted a 2.25 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 28 innings.
Purdue stays within the friendly confines of Lambert Field with a single game on Wednesday vs. intrastate foe Ball State at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast in the Lafayette area on AM 1410 WLAS, and on the web at www.purduesports.com.
The Boilermakers are 18-5 at home dating back to last season, and 45-22 since the start of the 2003 campaign. Under Schreiber, Purdue is 94-50 when playing at home, a winning percentage of .653.