Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Purdue
Baseball Loses Game 2 to Purdue, 20-11
4/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
April 7, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern baseball team fell to Purdue, 20-11, in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader at Rocky Miller Park.
In a wild affair, the teams combined for 38 hits and six errors and scored 24 runs in the final three innings. Eighteen of those runs were plated by the Boilermakers, who overcame a 5-2 deficit to gain their ninth win in a row.
Northwestern fell to 12-19 overall (1-6 Big Ten), while the Boilermakers are now 14-14 (7-2 Big Ten).
Ryan Bos got the start on the hill for NU and was sharp through four innings. He received plenty of offensive help early, as the 'Cats scored five runs through three. In the first, Eric Roeder led off with a single and stole second, then scored on a Jason Krynski single.
In the second inning, Joe Hietpas led off with a towering home run to left, and Brandon Ackley and David Gresky followed up with a pair of singles. Ackley later scored on a balk by Purdue starter Dave Gassner, and Gresky scored on a Dan Pohlman single. In the third, Ken Padgett reached base on an error and later scored an unearned run on an Ackley fielder's choice.
Bos gave up two runs in the third, but held a 5-2 lead heading into the fifth inning. That is when the roof caved in on the Wildcats -- Purdue would go on to score five runs in the fifth, six in the sixth, and seven in the seventh against a total of five NU pitchers.
NU kept things interesting, scoring twice in the fifth and three times in the sixth to make the score 13-11 heading into the final inning. In the fifth, Krynski and Wesley Robinson led off with singles, and the two advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Padgett. Two batters later, Ackley singled to bring them both home.
In the sixth inning, Roeder, Steve Haake and Pohlman led off with singles, and then all three came home on a tremendous triple by Tharp. Robinson then brought Tharp home with a sacrifice fly to deep rightfield.
Bos was tagged with the loss, as he was credited with giving up 11 runs, the last coming when reliever Christopher Spiering gave up back-to-back home runs to Kris Luce (a 2-run shot) and John Gusich in the top of the sixth. Offensively for Northwestern, Ackley was 3-for-4 with three RBI, while Pohlman had four RBI and was one of five NU players with two hits.
