April 4, 2008
IOWA CITY – The Purdue Boilermakers scored six unanswered runs, five with two outs, to top the Iowa baseball team, 8-6, Friday night at Duane Banks Field. Purdue’s pitching staff allowed only one Hawkeye hit the last seven innings en route to victory. The loss drops the Hawkeyes’ overall record to 7-15, and 0-5 in conference play. Purdue improves to 11-13 overall and 4-1 in Big Ten action.
Kurtis Muller and Kyle Riffel each recorded their fourth multi-RBI game tonight. Muller was 0-for-3, but registered two RBI, while Riffel was 1-for-5 with two RBI and a run. T.J. Cataldo notched his first multi-hit contest of the season, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Kevin Hoef collected his team-leading 10th multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. The Hawkeyes swiped six bases tonight, three in each of the first two innings. The six stolen bases are the second-most by Iowa this season (seven vs. Albany in the season opener).
“We did some good things early and unfortunately we let it get away,” said Head Coach Jack Dahm. “We put forth a good effort tonight and we came up short, but it’s a four-game series and we’ll come back and play hard tomorrow. Our focus was there and our energy level was better, but Purdue’s was better tonight.”
Purdue jumped on the board first with a pair of runs on two hits in the top of the first off Hawkeye starter Michael Jacobs. The Boilermakers plated their first two runs on an RBI groundout to first and a single to left field. Jacobs got the loss, allowing eight earned runs in four and two-third innings.
Iowa quickly reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hoef led off with a walk. Two batters later, Justin Toole reached after being hit-by-pitch. Caleb Curry then singled to left to score Hoef to make it 2-1. Muller then grounded out to the shortstop after a double steal to plate Toole and even the contest at 2-2. The sixth batter of the inning, Cataldo, smacked his first double off the season off the bottom of the right center field fence to score Curry and give the Black and Gold a one-run advantage at 3-2.
Riffel stretched Iowa’s lead to three, 5-2, in the top of the second after the senior singled up the middle to score Tyson Blaser and Hoef. Blaser and Hoef both reached on singles. Toole and Curry followed with a single and a hit-by-pitch, respectively. With the bases loaded, Muller walked home Iowa’s third run of the inning and sixth of the game to make it 6-2. Iowa sent eight batters to the plate in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs on five hits off the Purdue righthander Matt Bischoff. The Boilermaker ace pitched only two innings, yielding six earned runs and walked two.
Trailing 6-2 after two innings, Purdue scored six straight runs the next three frames to claim an 8-6 advantage after five innings. In the top of the third, the Boilermakers plated two runs on a two-out, two-RBI single to right center to close within 6-4. Purdue reclaimed the lead on three more two-out runs in the top of the fourth. After getting the first two outs, the Boilermakers scored on a two-out infield single, followed by a two-run home run to right center to put the Boilermakers ahead 7-6. Purdue’s Dan Black hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth to put the Boilermakers up 8-6.
Iowa attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh with Toole and Curry reaching on consecutive walks to start the inning. However, Purdue used three relief pitchers to silence the Hawkeye threat, with each reliever recording an out.
The Hawkeyes and Boilermakers continue their four-game series tomorrow with two seven-inning contests. The first game starts at 1 p.m. at Duane Banks Field.
GAME SUMMARYPurdue 202 310 000 -- 8 9 0Iowa 330 000 000 -- 6 8 0
WP - Cahill (1-0)
LP - Jacobs (2-3)
SV - Lindblom (4)