March 29, 2011
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball turned a season-high four double plays and scored in each of its final three innings to blow the game open, defeating IPFW, 8-1, Tuesday afternoon at Lambert Field.
Tyler Spillner led the way with three hits, extending his career-best hitting streak to nine consecutive games and closing the month of March with a .413 average.
Payton Bieker drove in a pair of runs without recording a hit and also threw out an IPFW (4-13) runner at the plate on a fly ball to right field to end the top of the second inning.
The Purdue infield also turned 6-4-3, 5-4-3 and 4-6-3 twin killings. The double plays helped the Boilermakers (16-8) make up for the IPFW leadoff man reaching base safely in each of the first six innings. The four double play were the most turned by the Boilers in a game since registering five in a 2005 loss at Notre Dame.
Purdue also had its first batter of an inning reach safely six times. That base runner ended up scoring four times.
Calvin Gunter (2-0) earned the win with four innings of one-run ball. Lance Breedlove worked a pair of scoreless innings and Pat Gannon, Blake Mascarello and Sean Collins also pitched a scoreless frame in relief.
The Boilermakers took the lead by scoring three runs with the bases loaded in the second inning, capitalizing on three free passes and error by the IPFW second baseman. The first six batters of the inning reached safely for Purdue, highlighted by back-to-back singles by Barrett Serrato and Ryan Bridges.
Bieker drew a leadoff walk to force in the first run of the game and Kyle Bischoff was hit by a pitch with a 2-2 count, allowing Serrato to score. The error was made on a potential double play off the bat of Stephen Talbott. But IPFW pitcher Ryan August (0-2) was able to limit the damage by getting Spillner to pop out and Eric Charles to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Leading 3-1 in the sixth, the Boilers scored twice with two outs to extend the lead. Ryan Bridges had singled to open the inning and was aboard when Talbott, Spillner and Charles strung together three consecutive base hits. Talbott bunted for a hit and Spiller and Charles followed with run-scoring singles.
Gunter walked the first two batters of the game before inducing a 6-4-3 double play ball and striking out the IPFW cleanup hitter to finish off the inning.
Breedlove got the first batter he faced to roll into a 5-4-3 twin killing in the sixth inning, again erasing a leadoff walk. Two innings later, Mascarello induced a 4-6-3 inning-ending double play ball to eliminate a hit batsman.
Kevin Plawecki reached base safely in four of his five plate appearances, scoring in the second and seventh innings after getting aboard to begin the frames. He scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Bieker in the seventh.
Charles finished with a pair of RBIs after also driving in Talbott with a sac fly in the eighth inning. Spillner scored in the frame as well when he doubled to right center and came home on a fielder's choice ground ball off the bat of Serrato.
Entering the day, Purdue had only turned 14 double plays in its first 202 defensive innings played this season.
The Boilermakers return to action Friday when they open Big Ten Conference play with a weekend series at Target Field versus Minnesota. The first pitch of Friday's doubleheader is set for 2 p.m. (EDT).