Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Baseball Splits Doubleheader With Purdue
5/7/2000 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 7, 2000
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the second straight day, the Northwestern baseball team used heroics from an unlikely source for a victory over Purdue. The Wildcats defeated the Boilermakers, 4-3, in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader before dropping the nightcap, 10-6.
NU is now 27-23 (10-13 Big Ten) and remains soundly in sixth place in the Big Ten.
Down, 3-2, in the final inning and facing Purdue's bullpen ace, Adam Helmer, Head Coach Paul Stevens called upon freshman Ken Padgett (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) to pinch hit. Padgett answered the call, singling with one out. After Jeremy Kurella (Dunedin, Fla./Dunedin) flew out to center, leaving the 'Cats down to their final out, Padgett advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored when J.P. Williamson (Oak Park, Ill./River Forest) singled to left.
One inning later, the Wildcats secured the improbable victory with a two-out rally. Eric Roeber (Onsted, Mich./Onsted) reached on an error by the Purdue shortstop, advanced to second on another Helmer wild pitch, and scored on Brandon Ackley's (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) single to center.
That made a winner of Gabe Ribas (Brunswick, Maine/Brunswick), who labored in the first inning but retired 13-straight hitters after allowing a run in the fourth.
In Game 2, Northwestern scored twice in the sixth and four times in the seventh, but it was far too little after the Boilermakers built up a 10-0 lead highlighted by a six-run fifth. J.J. Standring (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) took the loss in the second game.
Northwestern and Purdue conclude its four-game series Monday with a nine-inning game that will start at 1 p.m. at Lambert Field in West Lafayette, Ind.
