March 16, 2007
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A six-run inning and a quality outting by Josh Lindblom propelled the Purdue Boilermakers to an 8-1 win over Samford on Friday at Joe Lee Griffin Field. The Boilermakers are now 6-6 on the season.
Lindblom (2-1) allowed just one run in 8.0 innings, yielding four hits and striking out a season-high eight batters.
With the Purdue sophomore righthander throwing strikes, it was up to the Boilermaker bats to do their part, and they did just that in the second inning.
Dan Black led off the second inning with a single to right and moved to third on Eric Nielsen's double to left. Jon Moore was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Nick Overmyer drove home the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to right. With runners on the corners, Kyle Reesing drove his first home run of the season over the left field wall to give Purdue a 4-0 lead. A walk by Jordan Comadena set up the next scoring opportunity which was completed by Ryne White's towering homer to center.
With Purdue up 6-0, the Bulldogs pushed a run across the plate in the third on an RBI double by Michael Merseco.
The two squads traded zeroes for the next five innings before the Boilermakers tacked on two more runs in their final at-bat.
Reesing singled down the left field line and stole second base, and Comadena doubled to left-center to drive in Purdue's seventh run. A walk to Alex Jaffee and a single by White loaded the bases for Andy Preston, whose grounder to the right side of the infield plated Comadena from third with the game's final run.
Comadena was 2-for-3 at the plate with two walks to lead the Boilermaker offense. In his last three games, the Purdue leadoff hitter has reached base safely in 13 of 16 plate appearances, an on-base percentage of .813.
Other Boilermakers with multiple hits were White (2-for-5), Nielsen (2-for-4) and Reesing (2-for-4).
Purdue out-hit Samford 10-5, giving the Boilermakers 10+ hits in seven of the last nine games.
The Boilermakers and Bulldogs return to Joe Lee Griffin Field on Saturday at 2 p.m. (Eastern) for the second game of the weekend series. The contest will be broadcast on WLAS 1410 AM in the Lafayette area and on the web at purduesports.com.