May 9, 2009
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State's Eric Roof scored on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally the Spartans to a 6-5 win over Purdue at McLane Stadium on Saturday.
The three-game series opening win was MSU's (22-24, 12-7 Big Ten) seventh consecutive Big Ten victory, while the Boilermakers (20-23, 7-11 Big Ten) dropped their fifth one-run league decision this season despite hitting three home runs in the contest.
Knotted 5-5 late, Roof led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk from southpaw reliever Connor Sestak and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Johnny Lee in the next at bat after Drew Wurdack had taken over on the mound.
With his younger brother Jonathan Roof at the plate, who finished the game 3 for 3 with two RBIs and a run scored, Eric Roof stole third on a bang-bang play that umpire Mark Uyl ruled in favor of the base runner.
The safe call on the stolen base proved to be pivotal, as Wurdack intentionally walked the younger Roof and got Jeff Holm to fly out to deep right field, but with the runner on third and only one out, Eric Roof was able to score the go-ahead run and push MSU back into the lead.
Spartan reliever AJ Dunn (2-2), assisted by a fine double play started and ended by first baseman Holm, worked around a walk and a hit batter in the ninth to nail down the victory and earn his second win of the year.
Purdue's Sestak (0-3) was charged with his third loss after allowing the eventual go-ahead run to reach in the eighth inning.
Trailing 2-0 after three innings the Boilermakers rallied in the fourth, scoring four runs on a pair of two-out home runs by seniors Alex Jaffee and Ben Wolgamot. Jaffee's solo shot to right, put the Boilermakers on the scoreboard and Wolgamot's three-run shot came after MSU starter Nolan Moody issued back-to-back walks to Nick Overmyer and Brandon Haveman.
After MSU plated three runs on a two-run triple by Jonathan Roof and a Holm sac fly in the bottom of the sixth inning to retake the lead at 5-4, Haveman extended his hitting streak to a season-high 12 straight games with a solo home run in the top of the seventh to pull the Boilers even at 5-5.
Senior John Cummins was the lone Boilermaker with multiple hits in the game, finishing 2 for 4 with his seventh double of the year. The home runs were the third, first and fourth of the season, respectively, for Jaffee, Wolgamot and Haveman.
Purdue and Michigan State will meet up for game two of the series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. Left-hander Matt Jansen is the scheduled starter for the Boilermakers.