May 26, 2006
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Purdue Boilermakers' season came to an end on Friday in their third game at the Big Ten Tournament, falling to the Northwestern Wildcats 8-4. Purdue finished the tournament 1-2 and the season 31-27.
Trae Dauby was hit with the loss, giving him a final record on the mound of 4-7. The senior pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs (four runs total) on five hits while striking out one.
At the plate, each team knocked around 12 hits.
The Boilermakers were led at the dish by junior shortstop Mitch Hilligoss and senior outfielder Neal Gorka. Each has 3-4 days at the plate. Hilligoss scored a run and drove in two, while Gorka picked up one RBI.
Trailing by one run in the eighth inning, the Boilermakers allowed three runs to Northwestern on three hits and one crucial error, moving the score to a four-run Wildcat lead at 7-3.
Purdue knocked across a run in the bottom of the eighth on a run-scoring double by Neal Gorka that plated Jordan Comadena from second. However, the Wildcats would answer right back with a run in the ninth to regain the four run advantage.
Northwestern scored first in the ball game with a run in the top of the second on Dan Bruaer's first RBI double. Brauer would double in another run two innings later.
Trailing 1-0, Purdue tied the game on a single by Mitch Hilligoss to right field, scoring Alex Jaffee from second. Purdue's rally was cut short on a questionable call at third as Spencer Ingaldson was called out trying to move two bases on Hilligoss' single.
Antonio Mule led off the fourth inning with a home run deep over the centerfield wall, breaking the tie. Brauer's second RBI double and a run-scoring single by Max Mann made the score 4-1.
Purdue brought the challenge right back to the Wildcats in the fifth, scoring two runs on three hits. Ingaldson doubled with one out and scored on a Hilligoss single down the left field line. Ryne White followed with a two-bagger to the wall in left-center, driving in Hilligoss with Purdue's third run.
The teams exchanged zeroes in the sixth and seventh before Northwestern's outburst in the eighth.
In the end, six of Purdue's seven seniors in the Class of 2006 played in the season's final contest. Trae Dauby started on the mound; Neal Gorka started in right field; John Hunter started at third base; Eric Wolfe started at first base; Brent Coudron and Chris Toneguzzi both took the mound out of the bullpen. The lone senior who did not play in the final game was Jay Buente, who pitched a complete game in Thursday's win over Illinois.
Gorka ended the season as the top RBI man on the Boilermaker squad with 44. Hilligoss ended the 2006 season with 88 hits, the second-most in Purdue history, four behind his own record established last season. Hilligoss also set the single-season record at Purdue with 62 runs scored.