March 16, 2012
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WICHITA, Kan. - Purdue baseball's first batter of an inning reached base safely five times and scored all five times, as the No. 24 Boilermakers won their 10th-consecutive game, 10-5, at Wichita State Friday afternoon.Purdue (14-1) improved to 6-0 on its eight-game spring break trip and remained unbeaten (9-0) in the month of March.
Sean McHugh and Cameron Perkins both went deep Friday. McHugh hit a three-run homer to cap the scoring in a four-run sixth inning that broke the game open. It was his first long ball of the season and third career. Perkins connected for his third homer of the year and 19th career, a two-run shot in the top of the eighth.
Starting pitcher Joe Haase (2-0) put together his best outing of the young season, working six innings of three-run ball. He struck out a season-high five and did not issue a walk. Wichita State (10-10) scored all three of its runs with two outs in the fifth inning.
Barrett Serrato came through with a key two-out RBI hit in the sixth inning, winning a lefty-lefty match versus WSU starter Albert Minnis (1-3) after the Shockers had intentionally walked Kevin Plawecki. It was a one-run game at the time.
Stephen Talbott delivered a run-scoring triple into right center field in the fourth inning, hitting safely in a ninth straight game. He finished with three hits, improving to 16-for-29 on the spring break trip.
McHugh finished with a career-high four RBIs after also driving in a run with a fielder's choice ground ball to shortstop with the bases loaded in the fifth inning.
Leadoff man Tyler Spillner singled to open the first and sixth innings, scoring both times. He trotted home on a wild pitch in the first and scored from second base on Serrato's two-out single in the sixth. On three occasions Friday, Purdue advanced runners with a sacrifice bunt and all three times the lead runner ended up scoring later in the inning.
The Boilermakers left nine runners on base Friday, struggling a bit with a runner on third base and less than two outs early on. Purdue was unable to plate the runner in that situation in the first, second and fourth innings, helping keep WSU in the game.
But McHugh busted it open in the sixth inning when he the first pitch delivered by WSU reliever Tobin Mateychick over the wall in left center. The right-hander made his season debut Friday, replacing Minnis after Serrato's RBI single. The last pitch Mateychick threw Friday Perkins hit out to left field. In between, the sophomore did work a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Haase faced only 10 men in his first three innings, picking off Don Lambert after giving up a leadoff single to the outfielder in the bottom of the second. The senior bounced back from his rocky fifth inning by working a 1-2-3 sixth against the 3-4-5 portion of the WSU lineup.
Purdue has posted its first double-figure win streak since the 2001 team won 13 consecutive games.
The series concludes Saturday with a 3 p.m. ET doubleheader.