Feb. 21, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Purdue baseball team dropped its first game of the season, falling to Big Ten rival Michigan 4-3 in 10 innings on Saturday. The nonconference contest will be the only match up this year between the first- and second-place teams from the Big Ten in the regular season from last year.
The Wolverines (2-0), who opened the 2009 season with a 6-5 walk-off win over South Florida on Friday, plated the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning on a two-out base hit by Jake McLouth to send the Boilermakers to the first loss of the year.
Right-hander Drew Wurdack issued a free pass to Anthony Toth to lead off the bottom of the tenth. The walk proved costly as the Wolverine shortstop stole second and advanced to third on a deep fly ball to center. McLouth battled Wurdack to a 2-2 count before lining a single back up the middle for the game-winning hit.
Purdue (1-1) took advantage of a defensive miscue to jump out to an 2-0 early. Senior John Cummins opened the top of the second innning with a leadoff double down the left field line. Alex Jaffee followed with an infield single to third to place runners on first and with no outs.
After senior Jonathan Moore flied out to shallow center for the first out in the in theinning, Michigan catcher Coley Crank tried to throw behind Jaffee at first on a pitch in the dirt.
The pickoff throw fell short of Wolverine first baseman Dufek and bounced into the shallow right field. The errant throw allowed Cummins to score and advanced Jaffee all the way to third.
Senior catcher Eric Nielsen followed with a sacrifice fly to left to plat Jaffee and stake the Boilers to a 2-0 lead.
Purdue took advantage of a fielding error by third baseman Tiim Kalczynski in the sixth inning to tack on another run, but the Boilermaker shutout fell apart in the home half of the frame.
Purdue starter Matt Morgan, who had limited to Michigan to just five hits - four of them infield singles - through the first five innnins, walked Toth to lead off the sixth. Back-to-back singles by LeMarre and Dufek handed the Wolverines their first run of the game and forced Morgan from the contest with runners on the corners and nobody.
True frehsman Joe Haase made his collegiate debut and struck the first batter he faced before allowing consecutive run-scoring singles to McLouth and pinch hitter Chris Berset that knotted the game at 3-3. Kevin Cahill replaced the freshman left-hander and got out of the inning without any further damage.
The Boilermakers, who left 12 runners on base in the game, had little troubled getting runners on base, but struggled to get the home. Purdue stranded six runners on second or third in the one-run loss.
Michigan's Tyler Burgoon (2-0) picked up his second win of the season with four shutout innings of relief. The right-hander struck out four and walked none. Purdue's Wurdack (0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up the hit to McLouth in the 10th.
Purdue will have little time to lick its wounds, as it will face South Florida later tonight. First pitch for the game is slated for 7:30 p.m.