March 24, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue offense got off to a late start in a 5-2 loss to visiting Illinois State at Lambert Field on Wednesday. The defeat snapped the Boilers' five-game winning streak and dropped them to 8-9 for the year. ISU improved to 9-9 with the victory.
The Boilermakers, who had just one hit through the first seven innings, rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth to cut the Redbirds' 4-0 lead in half, but it wasn't enough to extend the winning streak.
ISU starter Brad Sorkin (1-1) held one of the Big Ten's top offensive units to a single base hit, a chopper through the left side of the infield by Barret Arthur in second, through the first six innings. The right-hander struck out two and walked one to earn his first victory of the season.
Reliever Ryan Copeland tossed a perfect seventh before giving way to JD Learnard in the eighth.
The Boilers ended the ISU shutout bid off of Learnard on a two-out run-scoring triple by Tyler Spillner, and cut the lead in half on an RBI base hit by Eric Charles in the following at bat.
With Charles at first and the tying run at the plate, ISU reliever Kenny Long came on for Learnard and ended the Purdue rally by getting Kevin Plawecki to fly out to center.
Offensively, ISU took advantage of one of three Boilermaker errors in the contest to plate their first run in the second and tacked on another in the top of the fourth.
The Redbirds extended the lead to 4-0 with a pair of runs on three walks and a two-run single by Ryan Court in the top of the eighth before Purdue's bats finally came around.
ISU added an insurance run in the top of the ninth, and Long worked around a one-out single by Cameron Perkins in the home half of the frame to wrap up his first save.
Boilermaker starter Blake Mascarello (0-1) was charged with a hard-luck loss despite allowing just two runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits in seven innings pitched. The left-hander struck out five and walked none.
Purdue will return to action this weekend when its hosts Chicago State for four games at Lambert Field. The Boilers and Cougars will play a single game on Friday, a doubleheader on Saturday and a single contest in the series finale on Sunday. First pitch of the opener is slated for 4 p.m. with Boilermaker right-hander Matt Bischoff the scheduled starter.