May 1, 2009

Game Notes in PDF Format

A Quick Look at the Boilers: Entering game No. 40 on the season, Purdue is batting .313 as a team with 80 doubles, 10 triples, 26 homers and 246 RBIs ... The Boilers are averaging 11.3 hits and 7.0 runs per game thus far ... One bug-a-boo for Purdue has been runners left on base. The Boilermakers have stranded 369 runners on base, an average of 9.5 per game ... On the mound, Purdue has posted a 5.93 team ERA in 341 1/3 innings pitched.

Hitting Fools In April: In 19 games played last month, the Boilers hit .358 (244 for 706), with 46 doubles, six triples and 14 home runs.

This Week: Nick Overmyer went 5 for 5 with six RBIs and three runs scored to account for nine of the Boilermakers' 14 runs at Ball State on Tuesday ... The Boilers' 14-6 win in a rain-shortened eight innings over the Cardinals snapped a three-game losing streak ... Purdue rapped out 17 hits in the contest, including a 3 for 6, three-RBI day by Brandon Haveman and a two-hit, two-RBI game by David Blount ... Right-hander Drew Wurdack turned in a third consecutive outstanding midweek start to pick up his third win of the year. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on five hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked three ... Reliever Kevin Cahill picked up his fifth save of the year, tossing 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Last Week: The Boilermakers went 1-3 last week, knocking off Butler 18-4 on Wednesday before stumbling to a Big Ten series sweep in the Metrodome against Minnestoa .... Purdue rapped out a season-high 25 hits in dowing visiting Butler on Wednesday at Lambert Field ... David Blount went 5 for 6 with two singles, two doubles, his second home run of the season, four RBIs and four runs scored ... The 25 hits by Purdue were the most in a game since the Boilers had 26 against Indiana on April 16, 2006 ... Led by the five-hit day from Blount, seven of the nine Purdue starters and three of the six reserves inserted in the game finished with at least one hit in the contest ... Drew Wurdack struck out a career-high nine hitters in five innings of work. The junior allowed just two runs, one earned, on four hits to pick up his second straight victory ... Minnesota scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to a steal a 4-3 win over Purdue in the opening game of a Big Ten series at the Metrodome on Friday ... Leading 3-1 after eight and half, Purdue starter Matt Bischoff was poised for his fourth complete game effort in five Big Ten starts, but a ninth-inning leadoff single AJ Pettersen and a walk to Derek McCallum was followed by a two-run double by a Michael Kvansnicka to force the right-hander from the game with nobody out and the contest with knotted at 3-3 ... Reliever Kevin Cahill entered and loaded the bases on a single by Kyle Knudson and a walk to Nick O'Shea before getting Kvansnicka at the plate on a fielder's choice grounder to short for the first out in the frame ... Justin Gominsky followed with a liner to right that was just deep enough to plate Knudson with the game-winning run on the sacrifice fly ... Minnesota's Tom Buske outdueled Purdue's Matt Jansen, as the Boilermakers dropped their fifth consecutive Big Ten game with a 3-1 loss in the Metrodome on Saturday ... Buske (6-3) allowed just one run on eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks over 8 2/3 innings to one-up Jansen and earn his sixth win of the season ... Jansen surrendered three runs, only two of which were earned, on five hits over 6 2/3 innings. He (3-5) struck out six and walked three in the hard luck loss ... Minnesota's Derek McCallum hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning to break open a one-run contest, as the Golden Gophers swept the three-game conference series against Purdue with a 5-2 win in the finale at the Metrodome on Sunday ... The Gopher pitching staff struck out 12 Boilermaker hitters in the finale, including eight punchouts with runners in scoring position.

A Quick Look at Indiana: The Hoosiers enter the Big Ten tilt with the Boilermakers 21-22 overall record and 10-4 in the Big Ten ... Indiana has a won all five of the Big Ten series it has played thus far, including a three-game sweep of Iowa in Iowa City ... Offensively, the Hoosiers are hitting .325 as a team and averaging 7.1 runs and 11.6 hits per game ... Josh Phegley leads the way individually, hitting .384 with nine doubles, a triple, a Big Ten-leading 13 homers, 52 RBIs and 43 runs scored ... On the mound, Indiana has posted a 5.68 team ERA in 367 1/3 innings pitched ... The weekend rotation will likely be LHP Blake Monar (4-3, 4.58 ERA), RHP Eric Arnett (9-1, 2.49 ERA) and LHP Matt Bashore (4-3, 4.48 ERA).

Purdue vs. Indiana: The Boilermakers will be meeting up with the Hoosiers for 260th time on Friday in an all-time series that dates back to 1888 ... IU leads the series with a 137-120-2 mark but Purdue ended Indiana's season last year with an 11-7 win in the elimination game of the Big Ten Tournament ... Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber is an even 20-20 in 40 all-time meetings with the Hoosiers.

So Close: Out of Purdue's nine losses in conference this season, five have been by two or less runs. The Boilers have dropped three one-run league games and a pair of two-run contests. For the season Purdue has dropped six one-run games and three by two runs.

300: No not a movie about Sparta, but a win total that Purdue head coach Doug Schreiber achieved with the Boilermakers' 9-3 win at Penn State on April 12. The 11th-year skipper is just the second Boilermaker head coach to have reached the milestone. Dave Alexander, who was Purdue's top guy from 1978 to 1991, is the all-time coaching wins leader in West Lafayette with 407 career victories.

Senior Jinx: Out of Purdue's six-member senior class, only Alex Jaffee has managed to avoid the injury bug this season. Brandon Haveman (hamstrings, nine games), John Cummins (hand, 16 games), Ben Wolgamot (groin, six games); Jonathan Moore (knee, season) and Eric Nielsen (shoulder, three games) have all missed considerable time due to injury this season. Outside of Moore and Nielsen, the seniors have all managed to make their way back into the lineup. Nielsen is the latest casualty, injuring his throwing shoulder at the Metrodome last weekend. He is listed as day-to-day.

Rivalry Revelry: A number of current Boilermakers have enjoyed a fair amount of success against their rival from the Bloomington Junior Dan Black, who hit a Big Ten Tournament record three homers in a game against IU last season, is a career .476 hitter (10 for 21) against the Hoosiers in seven games. Black has swatted four homers against them, a triple and scored nine runs with eight RBIs ... Senior Brandon Haveman went 11 for 23 (.478) with two triples, three RBIs and five runs scored in five games vs. IU last season ... Despite going hitless in three at bats vs. Indiana last season, senior Alex Jaffee has a .455 batting average against IU in eight career games (10 for 22). Jaffee has hit two homers, a double, scored eight runs and driven in seven ... Senior Ben Wolgamot went 7 for 16 (.438) with a homer, three RBIs and five runs scored against IU in his first season at Purdue after transferring from Danville Area CC.

Walk on the Wild Side: It appears that Dan Black's history, both ancient and recent, are catching up with him. With 33 career homers and 135 RBIs at Purdue, opposing pitchers have opted the safe route with the switch hitting infielder Black has been issued 49 walks in Purdue's 39 games this season, including 10 intentional free passes. The walk-a-thon has helped lead to a Big Ten-best .515 on base percentage for the year and placed him well within striking distance of the school's season record of 51 set by Brandon Bell in 1994. Black was walked a season-high five times in a game against Notre Dame on Feb. 22.

Leader of the Pack: As noted above, opposing pitchers have good reason to fear Dan Black. The junior has 15 multi-hit games, 10 multiple RBI games and leads Purdue in slugging (.652), on base percentage (.515), runs scored (40), RBIs (40), home runs (12) and total bases (88).

One More To Go: Entering the season Dan Black was tied for 12th all-time for career home runs with 21. His 12 fence-busters this season have moved him into a tie for second on the list with Brett Roach (1986-87) at 33. Black's next homer will not only hand him sole possession of second place, but will leave him just five bombs shy equalling Mike Biltimier's (1991-93) all-time high water mark of 39.

Stepping Up: Redshirt freshman Eric Charles has stepped up his play in a big way. After senior Ben Wolgamot went down with a groin injury at Illinois-Chicago on March 18, Charles has started the last 20 consecutive games for the Boilers and is hitting .392 (38 for 97) with five doubles, two triples, two home runs, 14 RBIs and 27 runs scored. In the nine games he appeared in prior to moving into the regular lineup, Charles was hitting just .214 with no RBIs and five runs scored.

Stepping Up, Part II: When senior Jonathan Moore was lost for the season with a knee injury against IPFW on March 24, classmate Alex Jaffee was called upon to take his place in center field. Jaffee has responded to the call by hitting .403 (29 for 72) with three doubles, a home run, 11 RBIs and 21 runs scored in the 21 games since Moore's injury.

Cummins Comeback: Senior John Cummins, who missed 16 games with a broken hand suffered on March 8, has returned in style. The first baseman has appeared in 12 contests since mending, including eight starts, and is hitting .424 (14 for 35) with three doubles, seven RBIs and five runs scored. Cummins has at least one hit in his last seven games played and is hitting .481 (13 for 27) with three doubles, six RBIs and three runs scored during that span.

One Way To Do It: Junior Nick Overmyer's five-hit day at Ball State on Tuesday snapped a 1 for 18 skid. Overmyer's 5 for 5 performance against the Cardinals was just the second five-hit game for Purdue this year and his six RBIs constitute an individual season high for the Boilers.

Have to Have Haveman: Brandon Haveman has had an impressive senior season, that is when his hamstring allows him to play. Despite having missed all or parts of nine games with injury, Haveman leads the team in batting average (.392), hits (49) and doubles (12), and is second for Purdue in slugging (.552) and total bases (69).

Eight Is Not Enough: Senior Brandon Haveman has put together a pretty nice little eight-game hitting streak. Dating back to the opener of the Ohio State series on April 17, Haveman is batting .447 (17 for 38) with four doubles, three runs scored and five RBIs. Haveman's eight game streak is the longest active one for Purdue, but five shy of his season-high of 13 and six south of the team-best 14 straight put together by Eric Charles earlier this month.

3M: For even the most casual of Purdue baseball fans, the first name of a Purdue starter on the mound will be easy to remember. Matt Bischoff, Matt Jansen and Matt Morgan (catch the common theme?) have all earned their way into the weekend starting rotation.

The First M: Ace Matt Bischoff has turned around his season after getting off to a pretty rough start. The right-hander's first three starts went some thing like this: 0-1, 10.93 ERA, 14 IP, 23 H, 19 R, 17 ER, 6 BB, 10 K. In the seven starts since then: 3-3, 3.33 ERA, 54 IP, 3 CG, 49 H, 23 R, 20 ER, 11 BB, 55 K. Bischoff struck out a career-high 12 batters against Mississippi Valley State on March 13.

He's Going the Distance: Right-hander Matt Bischoff has tossed complete games in three of his five Big Ten starts this season. The 2007 Big Ten Freshman of the Year and an all-league selection in 2008 is just 2-3 in league games, but one of the losses came in a 1-0 CG performance against Big Ten leader Ohio State on April 17.
Bischoff's Big Ten Numbers
5 Starts, 2-3, 3.76 ERA, 3 CG, 40 2/3 IP, 39 H, 20 R, 17 ER, 7 BB, 38 K

The Second M: Left-hander Matt Jansen enters his 10th start of the season 3-5 with a 6.33 ERA. He is second for the Boilermakers and 10th in the Big Ten in strikeouts (50), including a career-high 11 at Evansville on March 14.

The Third M: Right-hander Matt Morgan rounds out the Boilermaker weekend rotation and enters his ninth start of the year with a team-best 4.72 ERA. Morgan has been the hardluck starter for the Boilers this season. Not only has he had two scheduled starts skipped due to bad weather, he was also on the losing end of a 1-0 decision to IPFW on March 15 despite allowing just the single unearned run on six hits over 8 2/3 innings. He finished that start with six strikeouts against just one walk. He tossed his first collegiate complete game performance at Penn State on April 12. He allowed just two earned run on six hits over all nine innings.

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