May 15, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue baseball team squandered a pair of late scoring opportunities, leaving the bases loaded in the eighth and ninth innings, in a 6-3 loss to visiting Illinois at Lambert Field on Friday.
The loss prevented the Boilermakers (23-24, 10-12 Big Ten) from clinching the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament, while the Illini (33-17, 16-7 Big Ten) remain alive for a shot at the conference regular season title with the win.
Michigan, which is vying with Purdue for the sixth spot in the league championship tournament, was rained out at Northwestern on Friday and will play a doubleheader on Saturday. A Purdue win tomorrow or a loss by Michigan in either game of the double dip will send the Boilermakers to Columbus. A loss by Purdue and a Michigan sweep would advance the Wolverines.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth, the Boilermakers loaded the bases with one out on base hits by Ben Wolgamot and Drew Madia sandwiched around a walk to Dan Black, but Eric Charles fouled out to first and Nick Overmyer grounded into an inning-ending out at second to quash the Boilermaker threat.
After a John Cummins error in the top of the ninth led to two unearned Illini runs and a 6-3 edge, the Boilermakers loaded the bases again with two outs in the home half of the frame, but Illinois reliever Lee Zerrusen retired Black on a full-count swinging strike to nail down his second save of the season.
The Illini jumped out to a 4-1 lead early, plating a pair of runs in the first and one apiece in the second and third off of starter Matt Jansen. Relievers Sean Collins, Connor Sestak and Joe Haase held the Illinois bats in check from there on, but the missed offensive opportunities and the late fielding miscue foiled the Boilers' comeback attempt.
Illini starter Will Strack (5-0) remained unbeaten on the year in 6 1/3 innings of work. He allowed three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and one walk. Purdue's Jansen (4-6) was charged with the loss after surrendering four runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings of work. He struck out three and walked three.
Offensively, Illinois' Dominic Altobelli led the way at the plate in finishing 4 for 5 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored, while teammate Willie Argo chipped in with three hits, including his 10th double of the year, and a game-high four RBIs.
Purdue's Brandon Haveman extended his hitting streak to 16 straight games on a triple to lead off the game. He finished the contest 3 for 5 with a double and a run scored.
The rubber game of the final Big Ten series of the regular season for both schools will be played at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Right-hander Matt Morgan is the scheduled starter for Purdue.