March 17, 2006

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Purdue used a steady dose of offense in topping Saint Louis 7-1 this afternoon at The Billiken Sports Center. The Billikens (7-8) gave up 18 hits but forced the Boilmakers to leave 11 men on base. After plating a run in the bottom of the first inning, offense was difficult to come by for SLU against Purdue ace Jay Buente. Sophomore Greg Rodgers was the lone Billiken with multiple hits as he went 2-for-4 on the afternoon.

The game got off to an auspicious beginning as Purdue's leadoff hitter reached on an error followed by a Spencer Ingaldson single. Gilbert Marlowe fielded a line drive off the bat of Eric Wolfe and doubled up Ingaldson to turn things in the Billikens' favor. John Hunter drove a single through the left side to plate Mitch Hilligoss from third and give the Boilermakers a 1-0 lead. SLU starter Ryan Bird fanned Ryne White to close out the inning.

The Billikens tied it up in the bottom of the inning with a string of two-out singles from Johnny Sweeney, Rodgers and Tim Landy, the last of which plated Sweeney. Like Bird, Buente limited the damage with a strikeout to end the frame.

Neal Gorka opened the second with a double down the left field line, moved to third on a fly ball to center and scored on John Cummins' sacrifice fly to right. After a hit batter and two singles loaded the bases, Wolfe made it a 3-1 margin with an RBI single through the right side.

Bird kept the Boilermakers off the board in the top of the third, and the Billikens looked for more two-out magic in the bottom of the inning. Rodgers singled to right, and Landy drew a walk, but Buente got Marlowe to fly out to right center to maintain his two-run cushion.

Purdue added another run in the top of the fifth on two hits and one more in the sixth on three hits. Three singles in the seventh plated two more runs and sent Bird to the dugout for freshman reliever Corey Tyberendt. The left-hander gave up just one hit over the final 2-1/3 innings, but the Billiken offense could not break through against Purdue reliever Andrew Groves.

Buente improved to 3-0 on the season, while Bird fell to 2-3. Wolfe, Hunter and White each put up three hits for Purdue with Hunger, Cummins and Dane Wolfe each driving in two runs.

The two teams meet again on Sat., Mar. 18, at 1 p.m. at The Billiken Sports Center.