April 15, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Offensive explosions in two Sunday afternoon games propelled the Purdue Boilermakers to a series win over rival Indiana on the diamond at Lambert Field.
The pair of victories were in response to the Hoosiers claiming a win in the game completed on Sunday morning, a game suspended in the first inning on Saturday due to rain.
Alex Jaffee paced the Purdue offense, picking up seven hits in the final two games, including two home runs, with six runs and six RBI.
After falling 11-3 in the completion of Saturday's weather-suspended game, the Boilermakers (16-13, 6-5 Big Ten) wasted little time in giving starter Ricky Heines all the offense he would need for his conference-leading sixth win of the season.
Purdue blasted IU's pitching for 10 runs in the first inning on nine hits, four walks and one Hoosier error. Jaffee started the onslaught with a solo home run to left, his first of the season, and then continued with nine two-out runs. RBI hits by Dan Black, Eric Osborn, Jon Moore, Jaffee, Ryne White, Jeff Mojzik and again by Black of the season.
The Boilermakers added three runs in the fifth inning on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to John Cummins and a two-run double to right by Jordan Comadena, giving Purdue its final 13-run margin of victory.
Heines was masterful on the mound, pitching his fifth complete game and fourth shutout of the season. Heines (6-2) allowed just three hits while striking out four. Heines is now 3-0 in three Big Ten starts, all complete games, with a 0.43 ERA and a .197 opponent batting average.
In the series finale, Indiana opened to a 3-1 lead before the Boilermakers scored four unearned runs in the fifth inning to grab a 5-3 advantage. Comadena doubled to lead off the inning and scored on an error when Ingaldson's fly ball to left was misplayed by IU's Brian Lambert. A throwing error on the next play by IU shortstop Keith Haas allowed Ingaldson to score from second. Two batters later Mojzik tripled to right field to drive home two runs and give Purdue the lead.
Indiana repsonded immediately with a two-run homer in the sixth by Jon Fixler, and would go up 7-5 in the seventh on Fixler's two-run double down the left field line.
White doubled in a run in the home half of the seventh, driving in Jaffee and pulling Purdue to within one run, 7-6. Trailing by a lone run, the Boilermaker offense once again took hold of the game and pulled away from the Hoosiers.
A five-run eighth inning, highlighted by home runs by Cummins, the first of his collegiate career, and Jaffee, put the Boilermakers on top by the final 11-7 margin. An RBI triple by Moore and a run-scoring single by Eric Nielsen rounded out the scoring.
Josh Lindblom (3-4) pitched the final 1.1 scoreless innings to pick up the win, pitching in relief of starter Dan Sattler and reliever Matt Jansen. Sattler went 5.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits, while Jansen yielded two runs on two hits in 2.1 innings on the hill.
In the two wins on Sunday, Purdue has 17 two-out RBI on 16-of-33 batting, hitting at a .533 clip with two down.
Indiana won the completion of Saturday's suspended game 11-3, breaking a 3-3 tie with four runs in the sixth inning and four in the seventh. Andrew Groves (0-1) was hit with the loss after pitching 5.1 innings in relief of Lindblom, who allowed three runs in one-third of an inning on Saturday before play was stopped. Groves allowed three unearned runs before giving way to Allan Donato, who was touched for five runs in 1.1 innings.
The Boilermakers take on Notre Dame in South Bend on Wednesday evening before heading across the state line for a showdown with the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor next weekend. Michigan leads the Big Ten Conference with a perfect 8-0 record.