March 7, 2010
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Purdue left 17 runners on base, including the bases loaded four times, in a 6-2 loss to Southern Illinois on Sunday. The loss dropped the Boilers to 1-6 on the year, while SIU, which won back-to-back games for the first time, improved to 4-6.
Purdue loaded the bases in the first, fourth, sixth and eighth innings, but were unable to plate a single run in any case.
SIU scored all six of its runs on a seven-hit explosion in the bottom of the fifth inning. Saluki second baseman Blake Pinnon came up with the big hit, swatting a two-run homer off of Purdue starter Matt Jansen to hand Southern Illinois the lead at 3-2.
The much maligned Saluki bullpen held the Boilers in check there after as SIU held on for the four-run win.
The Boilermakers opened the scoring the third on a one-out double by Jon Moore and back-to-back run-scoring base hits by Eric Charles and Cameron Perkins, but struggled to come up with a clutch hit as the game progressed.
SIU starter Jimmy Cornell (1-1), who left the game trailing 2-0, benefited from the six-run fifth inning to pick up his first win of the year. Cornell allowed two runs, one earned, five hits in five innings of work.
Purdue's Jansen (0-1) was charged with the loss after allowing all six runs on 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. The Boiler southpaw struck out three and walked two.
The Boilermakers will return to action next Friday when they take on LeMoyne at the Dunn Hospitality Classic in Evansville, Ind. First pitch is scheduled for noon ET.