April 2, 2004
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Purdue baseball team opened the Big Ten season with a 7-3 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday afternoon at Beaver Field. The win was the first conference-opener victory for the Boilermakers since 2000 and the third in six seasons under head coach Doug Schreiber.
The Boilermakers improved to 10-10 on the season and 1-0 in the Big Ten Conference. Penn State is also 10-10, and is 0-1 in conference play.
Small ball was the key for the Purdue squad as the Boilermakers recorded two bunt singles, four sacrifice bunts, two sacrifice flies and two stolen bases.
The Boilermakers struck first with a run in the fourth inning. Freshman left fielder Mitch Hilligoss (Windsor, Ill.) bunted for a single towards third and moved to second when PSU third baseman Arin Gelletly threw past first base. Hilligoss advanced to third when senior backstop Ben Fritz (Minnetonka, Minn.) placed a bunt down the third base line that rolled to a stop just inches inside the line. Sophomore first baseman Eric Osborn (Toronto, Ontario) flied out to center to plate Hilligoss with the game's first run, giving the Boilermakers a 1-0 lead.
The Purdue lead grew to 5-0 in the sixth with four runs on five hits. Junior center fielder Mike Coles (Hammond, Ind.) opened the inning with a single to left and moved up 90-feet on a sacrifice bunt by Hilligoss. Fritz ripped a double to left center to score Coles and then advanced to third on a base hit by Wolfe. Senior third baseman Simon Klink (Auburn, Ind.) drew a walk to load the bases for freshman second baseman Eric Osborn (Fishers, Ind.), who promptly singled to left to score Fritz and Wolfe. Redshirt freshman Spencer Ingaldson (DH, Rapid City, S.D.) put down another successful sacrifice to push Osborn to second and Klink to third. Junior right fielder Andy Dahl (Fair Oaks, Calif.) capped the inning with a base hit on the infied at third that scored Klink.
Penn State broke through against Purdue starter Scott Byrnes (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) in the home half of the sixth when first baseman Clint Eury dropped a fly ball over the right field fence for a solo home run, his second round tripper of the season.
With a 5-1 lead, Purdue's offense posted a run in the seventh and on in the eighth to build a 7-1 advantage. Senior shortstop Mitch Koester (Effingham, Ill.) led off the seventh with a walk and scored from first on a double to the wall in left center by Coles.
The Purdue eighth inning opened with a double to right center by Wolfe and a Klink sacrifice bunt that put Wolfe on third. Osborn connected for a sacrifice fly and his third RBI of the game, plating Wolfe with the seventh Boilermaker run of the game.
The Nittany Lions struck for two against Purdue senior reliever Jason Driscoll (Mishawaka, Ind.) in the eighth on an RBI double by left fielder Lance Thompson and a run-scoring single by catcher Travis Laird to draw to within four. However, sophomore hurler Trae Dauby (Dale, Ind.) would shut the door for the Boilermakers, pitching the final six outs.
Byrnes (2-2) pitched 5.2 innings for the win, allowing one earned run on six hits while striking out three.
At the plate, five Boilermakers collected two hits each as Purdue totaled 11 hits on the afternoon. Hilligoss' two base hits extended his hitting streak to 12 games, while Osborn advanced his hitting streak to seven games.
The Boilermakers and Nittany Lions return to Beaver Field for a Big Ten double header on Saturday. First pitch of the twin bill's opener is slated for 1PM with senior southpaw Brian Karpel (1-1, Lakewood, Ohio) scheduled to be on the mound for the Boilermakers. Game Two will see redshirt freshman Dan Sattler (3-1, West Lafayette, Ind.) take the hill for Purdue.