Mar. 10, 1997
Purdue Loses in Ninth
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of Purdue baseball team surrendored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose to the University of North Florida 10-6.
The Boilermakers entered the bottom of the ninth inning with a 6-4 lead. North Florida tied the game at 6 and loaded the bases with two outs. The Ospreys Brian Fleetwood then stepped up to the plate to face Purdue reliever Jason Howard (0-1). Fleetwood hit the dramatic two-out grandslam to give North Florida the victory and dropped the Boilermakers record to 3-6.
Pudue second baseman Rob Metzler led the Boilermakers attack, going 2-for-5 with two RBI. Purdue had scored two runs in the top half of the ninth inning to forge out to the two-run lead.
Purdue starter Matt Luce worked the first six innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out four.
University of North Florida 10, Purdue 6 Purdue 101 000 112 - 6 11 2 North Florida 200 100 106 - 10 12 3 PU: Luce, Ballard (7), Howard (9) and Ortiz, Lorek. UNF: Everett, Norman (7), Holden (7), Snow (9) and Nelson. 2B: Metzler (PU), Walker (PU), Baxter (UNF), Mackiewitz (UNF), Nelson (UNF). 3B: None. HR: Metzler (PU), Fleetwood (UNF). WP: Snow (2-0). LP: Howard (0-1).