May 25, 2006
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - All phases of the game clicked for the Purdue baseball team on Thursday as the Boilermakers eliminated the Illinois Fighting Illini from the Big Ten Tournament field with a 10-5 win at Ray Fisher Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Boilermakers laced out 18 hits, did not commit an error, and received a complete game on the mound from senior Jay Buente.
Buente scattered 10 hits over nine innings, allowed five runs and struck out four batters. On four occasions, Buente pitched out of a situation when the Illini had a runner in scoring position, forcing Illinois to strand five runners in scoring position.
At the plate, the Boilermakers were led by junior Spencer Ingaldson, who sparked the Purdue offense with four hits and three runs. Ingaldson led off the game with a single and later scored the first run of the game. He singled again in the second and seventh innings, and doubled in the eighth.
Seven of the nine offensive starters for Purdue had multiple-hit games, five scored runs, and seven picked up RBI.
Purdue opened the game with two runs in the first inning on a two-run single through the left side of the infield by Jordan Comadena with two out, plating Ingaldson and Mitch Hilligoss.
Neal Gorka doubled to lead off the fourth inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Eric Nielsen to put Purdue up 3-0. Illinois answered with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, cutting the Boilermakers' lead to one run.
In the top of the fifth inning, Hilligoss hit the first home run of the Big Ten Tournament, sneaking a ball down the right field line just five feet inside the foul pole for a solo shot and a 4-2 Purdue advantage. The homer was Hilligoss' sixth of the season, tying him for the team lead with Gorka and Ryne White.
Illinois grabbed momentum in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs on four hits, taking its first lead of the game at 5-4.
The lead was short-lived as the Boilermakers scored four times in the seventh inning, taking the wind out of the Illini sails and setting Purdue up for another tournament game. Four straight singles to start the inning, including RBI base hits by White and John Hunter, partnered with a passed ball and a throwing error on catcher Lars Davis gave Purdue back the lead at 7-5. The Old Gold and Black scored another run on a safety squeeze successfully put down by Eric Osborn, scoring Hunter from third.
Ingaldson scored in the eighth on a single to center by Hilligoss, and a ninth-inning run scored by Gorka on an RBI single by Alex Jaffee capped the scoring at 10-5.
The 18-hit effort was the best by a Purdue team in Big Ten Tournament play, eclipsing the former hit high of 17 established on May, 15, 1987, in Purdue's 9-3 win over Minnesota.
The Boilermakers advance to a Friday game at noon. Their opponent will be Michigan, Northwestern or Minnesota, depending on the outcome of the remainder of Thursday's action in Ann Arbor. If Purdue wins Thursday's noon game, they will then play again at 3:30 p.m. the same afternoon.