May 3, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - An opportunistic Purdue offense used a pair of wild pitches and an error to build an early lead, and right-hander Matt Morgan outdueled Indiana southpaw Matt Bashore in the Boilermakers' series-clinching 5-2 win over the Hoosiers at Lambert Field on Sunday.
The victory improved Purdue 20-22 overall and 7-10 in the Big Ten, while Indiana, which previously had not dropped a league series all season, fell to 22-24 for the year and 11-6 in conference games.
The Boilermakers scored single runs in the first and fourth innings on Bashore wild pitches, and added another in the fifth on a fielding error by IU second baseman Tyler Rogers to jump out to a 3-0 advantage.
The Hoosiers pulled within one in the seventh, plating a run on a fielder's choice grounder off the bat of Evan Crawford and tacking on another on a Nick Overmyer throwing error later in the frame, and loaded the bases in the eighth, but Morgan and Boilermaker relievers Blake Mascarello, Drew Wurdack, Connor Sestak and Sean Collins combined to work their way out of the jam to maintain the one-run lead.
Senior Brandon Haveman, who extended his hitting streak to 11 straight games with single in the first, added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-out, two-run double to push the lead back to three, and freshman Collins worked a one-two-three ninth inning to wrap up the victory and earn his first career save.
Purdue's Morgan (4-4) retired the first 15 hitters he faced in order, including erasing Crawford with a pickoff at first after a two-out single in the second inning, and allowed just one earned run over 7 1/3 innings with five strikeouts and one walk to earn his fourth win of the season.
IU's Bashore, who uncorked five wild pitches in the game, was charged with the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings pitched. The southpaw struck out nine and walked three in the loss.
With Purdue in final exams, the Boilermakers will hit the books next week before heading to East Lansing next weekend for a three-game Big Ten series with Michigan State. First pitch for the series opener on Saturday is slated for 1:05 p.m.