May 16, 2009
Big Ten Tournament Bracket
Big Ten Tournament Website
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Leaving nothing to chance, the Purdue baseball team (24-24, 11-12 Big Ten) jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and never looked back as it earned the sixth and final spot in the Big Ten Tournament with a 12-8 win over visiting Illinois (33-18, 16-8 Big Ten) on Senior Day at Lambert Field on Saturday.
The Boilermaker victory alone was enough to advance Purdue into the league tournament, but Northwestern helped out by eliminating Michigan from contention with a 10-6 win in Evanston, Ill., earlier in the day. The Boilermakers will face rival Indiana, the No. 3-seed, in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday. Game time is scheduled for 3:35 p.m.
Purdue's five seniors, playing their final regular season home contest, contributed heavily in Saturday's series-clinching win. Combined Brandon Haveman, Ben Wolgamot, John Cummins, Alex Jaffee and Eric Nielsen teamed up for 12 of Purdue's 19 hits, accounted for eight RBIs and scored a total of six runs on the day.
Individually Jaffee led all players by going 4 for 4 with a double, his fifth home run of the season, three RBIs and a run scored. Classmate Haveman extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games after going 3 for 6 with an RBI and two runs scored. Cummins chipped in with three hits, an RBI and a run scored, while Nielsen and Wolgamot each finished 1 for 4. Nielsen added three RBIs on the day.
Junior Drew Madia and redshirt freshman Eric Charles crashed the senior day activities with Madia swatting a two-run homer, his sixth of the year, and Charles going 4 for 5 with two doubles and a game-high four runs scored.
The Boilers plated two runs in the first, one in the second and four in the third to race out to the early seven-run advantage.
The Illini broke up the shutout in the fourth with a single run, but Purdue answered a three-run top of the sixth with a pair of scores in the home half of the frame to maintain a healthy lead. The two schools traded runs in the seventh and Purdue tacked on another in the eighth for 12-5 edge heading into the ninth.
The Illini plated three runs in the final stanza, but could not pull any closer as the Boilers won their third consecutive league series.
Purdue starter Matt Morgan (6-4) picked up his team-leading sixth win of the year in 6 1/3 innings of work. The right-hander allowed five runs, three earned, on 10 hits. He struck out one and walked one.
Illini starter Bryan Roberts (5-4) was charged with the loss after surrendering six runs, four earned, on seven hits in 2 1/3 innings of work. He also struck out one and walked one.