May 17, 2011
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball put together back-to-back big innings early in the game and scored five times on sacrifice flies, cruising past Illinois-Chicago, 12-1, in the midweek finale for both teams Tuesday afternoon at Lambert Field.The Boilermakers (33-18) improved to 3-2 on their eight-game homestand and finished the year 9-1 in midweek action. Two of those nine wins came by a combined margin of 29-4 against a quality UIC team (24-24) that is in contention to win the Horizon League.
Purdue scored four times in the second inning and five times in the third. The Flames aided the big innings with seven free passes (four walks, three hit by pitch), two wild pitches, a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt at first base and a passed ball. Five of the seven batters that reached via a free pass came around to score and a bases-loaded walk to David Miller forced in another run.
Barrett Serrato led the way with three hits and three runs scored, collecting a hit and scoring a run in each of his first three at-bats en route to finishing the season 5-for-9 with three RBIs and five runs scored against the Flames. Miller was hit by a pitch and walked three times, improving on his Big Ten-leading totals for walks (39) and on-base percentage (.497). He batted leadoff for the first time this season.
Eric Charles (two), Andrew Dixon, Angelo Cianfrocco and Cameron Perkins each drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Purdue scored four of its first eight runs on sac flies.
Charles also reached on an infield single in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 consecutive games. Perkins bounced back from a hitless day Sunday with a pair of singles and two RBIs, reaching base safely for the 58th consecutive game dating back to last season.
The pitching trio of Lance Breedlove, Sean Collins and Mike Sudbury teamed up to limit UIC to one run on five hits, working three innings each. Breedlove (3-1) retired the first six Flames' hitters of the game. He pitched over back-to-back singles to open the third, making a nice play on a sac bunt attempt to retire the lead runner at third base and inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play ball moments later.
Collins pitched a perfect 1-2-3 fifth inning and retired nine of the 12 batters he faced. Sudbury retired six of the first seven batters he faced, working a 1-2-3 seventh inning and inducing a 6-3 double play ball to erase a leadoff hit batsman in the eighth.
Purdue loaded the bases in the second inning thanks to a leadoff single from Serrato, a walk to Tyler Spillner and Cianfrocco getting hit by a pitch. Dixon drove in the first run of the game with a fly ball into short left field. Jon Ryan made a sliding catch but quickly popped up and made a strong throw to the cutoff man, third baseman Andy Leonard. Serrato was able to tag up and score without a throw after Leonard was unable to get a grip on the ball while spinning to make the relay throw home.
Stephen Talbott kept the action moving quickly, bunting for a base hit on the first pitch of his at-bat to reload the bases. Spillner scored on a wild pitch and Charles plated Cianfrocco with a sac fly to center. The Boilermakers also stole a run with a walk-off play with runners on the corners, Talbott scoring easily when the throw to second went off the glove of UIC second baseman Matt Serna and into short left center.
Purdue sent 10 men to the plate in a five-run third inning, the first nine putting together a productive plate appearance. The rally began with a leadoff walk to Kevin Plawecki, who scored on a double into the right field corner from Serrato. Spillner followed with his second walk of the game. Serrato had taken third base on a wild pitch and was able score to when Cianfrocco was robbed of extra bases by a nice leaping catch by Nick Addison in right field.
Dixon followed with another double down the right field line. Talbott was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Miller picked up an RBI with his first walk of the game. Charles registered a sac fly for the second inning in a row, flying out to the warning track in left field, and Perkins delivered a two-out single to cap the scoring in the lengthy frame.
Jake Hansen's base hit up the middle that knocked down the second base umpire highlighted the Boilers' two-run seventh inning.
Purdue concludes the regular season and its eight-game homestand this weekend with a key Big Ten series against Iowa. The three-game set is slated for a Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule at Lambert Field. First pitch Thursday is set for 4 p.m.