April 20, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's not quite Navy-Notre Dame on the gridiron, but for the Boilermakers a series win over Ohio State was something that had not happened since Ronald Reagan sat in the Oval Office.
That is until today.
With one swing of the bat in the top of the ninth inning in the series finale, Purdue's Ryne White drilled a three-run home run over the right field wall to give the Boilermakers a 7-5 win over the Buckeyes - completing a three-to-one series win.
Purdue had not won a series over OSU in Columbus since 1986, and had not won a series vs. the Buckeyes at all since 1987.
With the win in the finale, Purdue earned a split of the Sunday doubleheader and now sits in second place in the Big Ten Conference at 12-4, one win better than the Boilermakers finished in 2007. Purdue is 20-17 overall.
Trailing 5-1 in the eighth inning, Purdue scored three runs on a two-run double by Jordan Comadena and a RBI grounder by pinch-hitter Drew Madia.
With the score 5-4 Ohio State, the Buckeyes put a runner on first with two down. A stolen base and a single appeared to give OSU an insurance run, but White - who had been moved from first baseb to right field that inning - came up throwing on the single and gunned down Ryan Dew at home plate.
Nick Overmyer led off the top of the ninth with a single to left and Brandon Haveman's grounder forced out Overmyer, but Haveman was safe on the doubleplay attempt. Ben Wolgamot followed with a ground ball, but was awarded first base on catcher's interference. White stepped to the plate with Haveman and Wolgamot on base and nailed the first pitch he saw from reliever Alex Wimmers for the game-winning shot.
Josh Lindblom (1-2), who entered the game in the seventh inning, recorded the final three outs in the home half of the ninth to secure the win. Lindblom allowed one run in three innings, his longest outing of the season.
In the first game of the Sunday twinbill, Ohio State outlasted Purdue 8-4 in another late-inning comeback attempt by the Boilermakers.
Trailing 5-1 in the sixth inning of a seven-inning game, Purdue scored three times on RBI by Jonathan Lilly, John Cummins and Haveman. However, OSU answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the four-run lead and the win.
The Boilermakers have won each of the first four Big Ten series in 2008, the first time Purdue has won four consecutive conference series since the 2001 season, a season that saw Purdue finish 19-7 and in second place.
Purdue returns home for an intrastate game vs. Ball State on Wednesday, April 23. The non-conference matchup is slated for a 4 p.m. first pitch. Purdue remains at home over the weekend for a Big Ten series against the Golden Gophers of Minnesota beginning at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 25.