May 24, 2008
ANn ARBOR, Mich. - With Purdue one game away from either the Big Ten Tournament championship game or elimination from the tournament, Dan Black and his bat decided the Boilermakers would rather have a second shot at top-seeded Michigan as Purdue handed Indiana its exit papers with a 11-7 win at Ray Fisher Stadium.
Black tied a Big Ten Tournament record with three home runs in a single tournament game, and thereby set a new tournament record with five home runs in the postseason event.
Black's three-home run afternoon upped his season total to 18 round trippers, the second-best season in Purdue baseball history. Only Brett Roach with 21 jacks in 1987 had a more powerful season at the plate for the Boilermakers.
The Boilermakers opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning with three runs on three hits and a costly IU error. Jordan Comadena led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by John Cummins. A walk to Jon Moore put two runners on for Jonathan Lilly, who poked a single up the middle to drive home Comadena with the game's first run.
With two down in the second, Brandon Haveman singled on the infield and drove home Moore from second base when the Purdue centerfielder raced around third with some agressive base running. A errant throw home from Hoosier second baseman Tyler Rogers sailed past the plate and into the Purdue dugout, allowing Haveman to score on the error and give Purdue the early 3-0 lead.
Indiana scored twice in the third to cut the Boiler lead to 3-2, scoring on a sacrifice fly by Chris Hervey and an RBI single by Jerrud Sabourin.
Black blasted his first home run of the game and the third of the tournament for the sophomore with one out in the third inning to give Purdue a two run lead. Moore then led off the fourth inning with a solo home run over the brick wall in left-center to up Purdue's lead to 5-2.
Black continued the power show with a second blast onto the roof of the 30-foot high indoor track building located approximately 50 feet beyond the right field wall in the fifth inning. Ryne White was on second base after a walk and a wild pitch when Black jacked his fourth home run in three tournament games.
The Boilers added a run in the sixth with two out when Nick Overmyer singled to left and Haveman split the outfielders in right-center for an RBI triple, his fifth three-bagger of the season.
In the home half of the seventh, tournament history was made when Black hit a 3-2 offering on the outside part of the plate over the wall in right-center for his record-setting fifth homer of the tournament. A single by Comadena, a grounder by Cummins and a single by Moore plated a second run in the inning to put Purdue up 10-3
Indiana drew to within three runs with a four spot in the top of the eighth inning before Andy Loomis came in from the bullpen to strike out pinch hitter Brad Henke for the final out of the inning.
The Boilermakers added an insurance run in the home half of the eighth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center by Black, giving the Purdue catcher five RBI on the day and 11 in the tournament.
Indiana attempted to make a comeback in the ninth inning, putting a runner on first with two down before Josh Lindblom closed the door on the Indiana season, sending Purdue into the championship round.
Matt Jansen picked up the win with six innings pitched, allowing two earned runs while striking out two. The Boilermakers used five pitchers in the victory.
The Boilermakers take on Michigan at 7 p.m. Saturday evening. If Purdue wins, the teams will meet again at noon on Sunday. If Michigan wins, the Wolverines will be crowned Big Ten Tournament champions for the second time in three years.