March 11, 2007
AUBURN, Ala. - The Purdue Nine committed seven errors in the first four innings on Sunday as the Boilermakers lost to 13th-ranked Auburn 12-6 at Plainsman Park in the weekend series finale.
Purdue's miscues led to eight unearned runs as the Boilermakers (4-5) fell to Auburn for the third time.
Auburn (17-2) took immediate advantage of the Boilermaker gifts, scoring three times in the first inning off two hits and three errors.
Purdue answered in the top of the second with a run, cutting the Tiger lead to 3-1. Jordan Comadena's single up the middle with the bases loaded plated Alex Jaffee, who singled to begin the inning.
The game became ugly in the fourth inning as Auburn made full use of the Boilermakers' sloppy play, scoring six times, all unearned, on just two hits. Purdue committed four errors in the inning and allowed four runs to score before the first Tiger hit in the frame. Auburn added another run in the fifth to up the score to 10-1.
Purdue scored a single run in the sixth inning when Carlos Pupo scampered home from third on a wild pitch by starting pitcher Evan Crawford (3-0). Pupo led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch, moved to second on a single by Dan Black and advanced to third on a grounder by Jaffee to set up the run.
The Boilermakers closed the gap to 10-5 in the eighth inning on RBI hits by John Cummins, Andy Preston and Comadena. Purdue opened the inning with a double by Drew Madia, then picked up the consecutive RBI hits to pull to within five.
Auburn responded in the home half of the eighth with two runs, highlighted by a solo home run by Mike Bianucci, the only roundtripper of the weekend by either team.
The Boilermakers scratched across a final run in the ninth on a sacrifice fly by Cummins, but it wasn't enough.
Tony Sedlmeyer (1-2) was hit with the loss, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing six runs (one earned) on three hits.
Purdue travels to Birmingham on Monday and then takes on the UAB Blazers on Tuesday and Wednesday at Jerry D. Young Memorial Field. Both midweek games will be broadcast on WLAS 1410 AM and on the web at purduesports.com.