April 1, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It was deja' vu all over again for the Purdue baseball team as the Boilermakers defeated Illinois 11-6 on Sunday to earn a split in the opening Big Ten series of the season.
Purdue (12-10, 2-2) lost the first two games to the Illini this weekend before claiming the final two for the split. In 2006, the Boilermakers dropped the first two games with Illinios in Champaign before battling back for a series split by winning games three and four.
The Boilermakers split five of eight series in the Big Ten one year ago.
Tony Sedlmeyer picked up his third win of the season in the start, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on five hits. Sedlmeyer (3-2) struck out three and walked three before giving way to the Purdue bullpen.
Trailing 2-0 after the top of the first, Purdue jumped on the scoreboard in a loud manner as leadoff hitter Jordan Comadena hit the first pitch he saw out of the park to left field for his fifth home run of the season. The Boilermakers took the lead later in the inning on Jon Moore's double to left that drove home Jeff Mojzik and Dan Black.
Purdue extended the lead to 5-2 in the second on an RBI single by Spencer Ingaldson and an RBI double by Ryne White. Three more runs in the fourth made the score 8-2 in favor of the Boilermakers. An RBI grounder by White followed by run-scoring singles by John Cummins and Moore put Purdue up by six.
With the two-bagger in the second inning, White extended his hitting streak to 21 games, having hit safely in every game this season with the lone exception of the season opener at Georgia.
Illinois inched closer with single runs in the fifth and sixth, but the Old Gold and Black would have an answer in the seventh in the form of a three-run inning. Comadena singled to drive home Alex Jaffee, and was followed by an Ingaldson RBI double. White capped the Purdue scoring with an RBI single to right.
A two-run homer in the top of the ninth drew Illinois to within five, but it was too little far too late.
Every Boilermaker in the starting lineup picked up at least one base hit on the afternoon, led by three-hit efforts from Comadena (3-for-6) and Moore (3-for-4). Comadena added four runs scored, giving him a Big Ten-leading 28 through 22 games.
Moore drove home three runs, a season-best for the Purdue sophomore, as did White.
The Boilermakers remain at home for a midweek non-conference matchup with the Miami University RedHawks on Wednesday, April 4, beginning at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast in the Lafayette area on WLAS 1410 AM and on the web at purduesports.com.