May 10, 2008
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue received a quality start on the hill from Kyle Cook and record performances from Brandon Haveman and Josh Lindblom to claim a 6-2 win in Saturday's second game against Michigan State at Lambert Field. The win offset an 11-3 loss earlier in the day, earning a split in the day's doubleheader.
Freshman Cook improved to 4-2 on the hill with a 5.0-inning effort in the Boilermaker win. The southpaw allowed four hits and two runs in the outing that helped Purdue snap a five-game losing streak, the longest of the season since falling in the first nine games of the year.
Haveman, the Boilermaker leadoff batter, scored three times in the 6-2 win, increasing his run total on the season to 52. In 27 Big Ten Conference games, Haveman has now scored a league-leading 35 runs, breaking the Purdue record of 32 runs scored in conference play set by Ryne White in 2007. The Big Ten record for runs scored is 39 by Robb Quinlan of Minnesota in 1998.
Lindblom came out of the Purdue bullpen in the seventh inning and struck out the two batters he faced to record his 12th save in the 6-2 win. In conference action the junior now has nine saves, tying the Big Ten season record by Iowa's Kurt Belger in 1995. The Purdue overall season record is 13 by Andy Helmer in 2000.
After suffering an 11-3 loss in Saturday's opening game, the Boilermakers responded with two runs in each of the first two innings against MSU starter Mark Sorensen to build a 4-0 lead.
Purdue got on the scoreboard in the first on Dan Black's sacrifice fly that drove home Haveman. John Cummins tacked on a second run with a single that plated Ben Wolgamot. In the second a fielder's choice by Ryne White drove in Kyle Reesing and a second sacrifice fly by Black pushed across Haveman with Purdue's fourth run.
MSU scored twice in the third to cut the Boilermaker lead in half, but the Purdue Nine responded with single runs in the fourth and sixth.
Haveman led off the fourth with a triple into right-center and was followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield to drive in the fifth run of the game. A Jordan Comadena single to left in the sixth inning with two out drove home Wolgamot from second with the game's final run.
Cook turned the mound over to Andy Loomis in the sixth inning, who put a zero on the scoreboard after two groundouts and a caught stealing at second base. Two MSU batters reached base in the seventh before Loomis handed the ball to Lindblom for the save opportunity.
In the day's first game, Michigan State scored multiple runs in the first, third and fourth innings to build a 9-3 lead before cruising to the 11-3 final.
The Boilermakers' three runs crossed the plate in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Jon Moore, a sacrifice fly by Eric Nielsen and a run-scoring single by Nick Overmyer. However, the three-run burst was not enough to overcome the fast start by the Spartans.
Purdue (27-22, 18-9) returns to Lambert Field on Sunday against Michigan State at noon. That starting time has been moved from the original 1 p.m. first pitch in an attempt to beat the impending storms that are expected to hit the West Lafayette area on Sunday.