April 22, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue baseball team rapped out a season-high 25 hits, including five by sophomore David Blount, and right-hander Drew Wurdack turned in another solid midweek start, as the Boilermakers cruised to an 18-4 win over visiting Butler at Lambert Field on Wednesday.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Boilers and improved them to 17-18 for the year. Butler dropped its sixth consecutive contest to Purdue with the loss and fell to 7-30 for the year.
Trailing 2-0 after the first inning, the Purdue offense took off in the second and third to jump out to a 8-2 advantage. The Boilers plated three on three consecutive singles to lead off the second and a sacrifice fly by Ben Wolgamot before tacking on five more in the third on seven singles and another Wolgamot sac fly
Highlighted by a three-run homer by Blount, Purdue added four runs in the sixth, five in the seventh and capped off the scoring with a single run in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Wurdack struck out a career-high nine hitters in five innings of work. The junior allowed just two runs, one earned, on four hits to pick up his second straight victory on the mound.
Butler's Jared Wagoner (0-4) was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in one inning of work.
The 25 hits by Purdue were the most in a game since the Boilers had 26 against Indiana on April 16, 2006. Led by a five-hit day by Blount, seven of the nine Purdue starters and three of the six reserves inserted in the game finished with at least one hit in the contest.
Blount, who ended the game 5 for 6 with a single, two doubles, his second homer of the season, four RBIs and four runs scored, narrowly missed out on hitting for the cycle by a triple. The sophomore utility man almost had the three-bagger and Purdue's first cycle since 2001 when he lofted a ball deep down the line in right in the seventh.
With runners on first and second, Butler right fielder Colin Ziegel gave chase and just missed out on the diving catch. The near catch forced Dan Black at first and Tyler Spillner at second to hold up to see if the play was made limiting Blount to a double and leaving him 90 feet shy of the rare feat.
Freshman Barrett Serrato, who entered the game as a defensive replacement in the second inning, added four hits in five at bats, an RBI and two runs scored. Drew Madia and John Cummins each finished with three hits, with Madia scoring three runs and Cummins chipping in with two runs driven in and two runs scored.
The Boilermakers will resume league action this weekend when they head to Minneapolis for a three-game Big Ten series against Minnesota in the Metrodome. First pitch for the opener on Friday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EDT and the contest can be seen live on the Big Ten Network.