March 24, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - For the third time in Purdue's last four games junior Dan Black came to the plate at a key point late in a contest and delivered a clutch hit.
The Boilermakers' third baseman followed his game-winning homers at Illinois-Chicago and UT-Martin last week with a three-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lead Purdue past IPFW 5-2 at Lambert Field on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Boilers staged a four-run rally to take their second lead of the day.
Nick Overmyer and Jonathan Moore opened the frame with back-to-back base hits to place runners on first and second. Eric Charles hit into a fielder's choice to erase Moore at second and leave Purdue with runners on the corners and one out.
After falling behind in the count 1-2, catcher Eric Nielsen came through with a single to left out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order to plate Overmyer and tie the game at 2-2.
Leadoff hitter Tyler Spillner followed Nielsen with a walk to load the bases, but a drawn in IPFW infield cut down Charles at the plate on a grounder by Jonathan Lilly for the second out in the frame.
That brought Black to the plate. Batting from the left side of the plate, the switch-hitting infielder sliced reliever Andrew Emge's 1-2 offering into the gap in left center to clear the bases with a double and hand Purdue a three-run advantage.
The bases-loaded two-bagger eventually proved to be Black's fourth-game winning hit of the season. He finished the game 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a pair of intentional walks.
Right-hander Jeff Straub (1-0), who tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, worked around a two-out single by IPFW in the top of the ninth to close out the win and pick up his first victory of the season. He struck out four and did not issue a walk.
IPFW's Emge (1-3) was charged with the loss after allowing four runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings.
Purdue initially jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a safety squeeze by Drew Madia, but saw IPFW plate two runs in the top of the seventh on a solo home run by Jordan Kohler and a bases-loaded walk to Chris Gottschall.
The victory in the first home game of the year pulled the Boilers' overall record to an even 9-9 and was a season-best fourth straight win. IPFW, which defeated Purdue 1-0 for the first time ever earlier this season in Evansville, dropped to 5-11 with the loss.
Purdue will open league action this weekend when it heads to Evanston, Ill., for a three-game series against Big Ten rival Northwestern. First pitch for the series opener with the Wildcats on Friday is scheduled for 4 p.m. EDT.