May 11, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Purdue took advantage of four Michigan State errors to score seven two-out unearned runs through six innings as the Boilermakers cruised for a 9-3 victory to win the three-game Big Ten series with the Spartans on Monday.
The Boilers improved 22-23 overall and 9-11 in the conference with the win, while Michigan State, which has already clinched a spot in the conference championship tournament, dropped to 22-26 for the year and 12-9 in the league standings.
Spartan rightfielder Eli Boike dropped a pair of fly balls that led to single runs in the second and sixth inning, second baseman Chris Roberts bobbled a grounder for a fielding miscue that lead to four more runs in the fifth and an errant transition from glove to throwing hand by centerfielder Brandon Eckerle led to yet another unearned run in the top of the seventh.
Purdue's bat made MSU pay for errors as eight of the nine starters had at least one hit in rapping out 14 in the game. Individually, Brandon Haveman (2 for 5, R), Ben Wolgamot (2 for 5, 2 RBIs, R), John Cummins (2 for 5, RBI, R), Drew Madia (2 for 4, 2 RBIs, R) and Eric Nielsen (2 for 4, R) all paired hits for Purdue in the win.
Haveman extended his hitting streak to 14 straight games with a single in the third to tie Charles for the team season high.
Trailing 9-1, the Spartans attempted to rally in the seventh by collecting two runs on four consecutive hits to lead off the frame, including a solo home run by Eric Roof and an RBI single by Jonathan Roof, but reliever Sean Collins took over for Purdue starter Matt Morgan on the mound and got out of the jam on a sacrifice bunt and a third-to-first-to-home double play.
Morgan (5-4) picked up his fifth win of the season with six innings of work. The right-hander allowed three runs on nine hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
MSU starter Tony Bucciferro (4-2) was victimized by the shoddy MSU defense and was charged with the loss. The freshman allowed eight runs, only two of which were earned, on 10 hits in six innings of work. He struck out eight and walked none.
Purdue will close out the nonconference portion of their season on Wednesday when it host Illinois-Chicago for a single game at Lambert Field before closing out the regular season in a pivotal Big Ten series against Illinois Thursday through Saturday. First pitch against the Flames on Wednesday is slated for 4 p.m.