May 18, 2009

Game Notes in PDF Format

A Quick Look at the Boilers: Entering the Big Ten Tournament, sixth-seeded Purdue is batting .318 as a team with 102 doubles, 14 triples, 38 homers and 315 RBIs ... The Boilers are averaging 11.6 hits and 7.3 runs per game thus far ... One bug-a-boo for Purdue has been runners left on base. The Boilermakers have stranded 445 runners on base, an average of 9.3 per game ... On the mound, Purdue has posted a 5.75 team ERA in 421 1/3 innings pitched ... The Boiler pitching staff is sixth in the league with 331 strikeouts and has walked the fourth-fewest batters (188).

Purdue in the Conference Tournament: Purdue is making its 13th all-time appearance in the Big Ten Tournament and its second consecutive appearance ... The Boilers are 11-24 in the tournament dating back to their first appearance in 1981 ... Including this year, Purdue has advanced to seven Big Ten Tournaments in head coach Doug Schreiber's 11 seasons and has won at least one contest in five of the previous six trips ... The Boilers advanced to the tournament title game last season, but fell to champion Michigan 3-2 in the final.

Big Ten Tournament Experience: The Boilermakers bring nine position players and five pitchers that have Big Ten Tournament experience to this season's tilt. A look at their tournament numbers:

Hitters
Dan Black		4 GP-4 GS, .500 avg., 7 for 14, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R
John Cummins	4 GP-3 GS, .250 avg., 2 for 8, 1 2B, 2 R
Brandon Haveman	4 GP-4 GS, .428 avg., 7 for 16, 2 3B, 4 RBI, 3 R
Alex Jaffee	5 GP-4 GS, .375 avg., 6 for 16, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R
Jonathan Lilly	4 GP-4 GS, .357 avg., 5 for 14, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R
Drew Madia	3 GP-0 GS, .333 avg., 1 for 3
Eric Nielsen	6 GP-3 GS, .111 avg., 1 for 9, 1 RBI
Nick Overmyer	4 GP-4 GS, .333 avg., 5 for 15, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
Ben Wolgamot	4 GP-4 GS, .056 avg., 1 for 18, 1 RBI, 1 R
Pitchers
Matt Bischoff	1 App-1 GS, 1-0, 6.00 ERA, 6 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Kevin Cahill	1 App-0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Matt Jansen	1 App-1 GS, 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Matt Morgan	1 App-0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Drew Wurdack	1 App-0 GS, 1 save, 6.00 ERA, 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K 

How Purdue Got There: The Boilermakers finished sixth in the Big Ten this season ... Purdue won five Big Ten series, split one and were swept in two others ... The Boilermakers won their last three league series of the season to become the final team to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament ... The Boilers won series against fellow Big Ten Tournament participants Indiana (2-1), Michigan State (2-1) and Illinois (2-1) ... Purdue was swept by No. 1-seed Ohio State and No. 2-seed Minnesota, however three of those six losses were by a single run and none were by more than three runs.
Purdue's Big Ten Season at a Glance
March 27-28 - at Northwestern (1-1): Purdue 4-3, Northwestern 13-4
April 3-4 - vs. Iowa (2-1): Iowa 15-7, Purdue 5-3, Purdue 10-9
April 10-12 - at Penn State (2-1): Purdue 6-4, Penn State 11-9, Purdue 9-3
April 17-18 - vs. Ohio State (0-3): Ohio State 1-0, Ohio State 7-4; Ohio State 11-10
April 24-26 - at Minnesota (0-3): Minnesota 4-3; Minnesota 3-1; Minnesota 5-2
May 2-3 - vs. Indiana (2-1): Purdue 15-8, Indiana 7-6, Purdue 5-2
May 9-11 - at Michigan State (2-1): Michigan State 6-5, Purdue 9-8, Purdue 9-3
May 14-16 - Illinois (2-1): Purdue 12-5, Illinois 6-3, Purdue 12-8

A Quick Look at Indiana: The Hoosiers enter the Big Ten Tournament as the No. 3-seed with a 28-25 overall record and a 16-7 final mark in the Big Ten ... The Hoosiers won six of eight Big Ten series in the regular season and split one in a weather shortened series ... IU's lone series loss this season came at the hands of Purdue in West Lafayette ... Offensively, the Hoosiers are hitting .322 as a team, second in the conference, and averaging 7.1 runs and 11.4 hits per game ... IU ranks second in the Big Ten in slugging percentage (.483), on base percentage (.400), hits (605), home runs (59) and total bases (908) ... Individually, Josh Phegley has turned in an impressive junior season. His .354 batting average is third for the Hoosiers and he leads the Big Ten with 17 homers and is second in the league with 62 RBIs ... Freshman teammate Alex Dickerson has swatted 14 homers, driven in 52 runs and is hitting .367 on the year ... On the mound the Hoosiers have a 5.32 ERA in 465 1/3 innings pitched ... IU is third in the Big Ten in strikeouts with 392 ... Individually, junior starter Eric Arnett (11-1) has been more than pretty good ... The right-hander has won 11 games this season, tied for the Big Ten lead, his 2.78 ERA in 94 innings of work is second in the conference and his 93 punchouts are third in the Big Ten.

Purdue vs. Indiana: As noted above, Purdue was the lone conference team to win a series against the Hoosiers ... The two schools split a doubleheader on May 2, with Purdue winning the front end 15-8 and IU taking the back end 7-6 ... The Boilers pulled off the series victory with a 5-2 on May 3 ... Purdue and Indiana have met up 262 times in a series that dates back to 1888 ... IU leads the all-time series 138-122-2, but Purdue has won three of the last four meetings.

Purdue vs. Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament: Purdue and Indiana will be meeting up for a second consecutive season in the league tournament, but for just the third time overall ... The Boilers eliminated IU from the postseason last year with an 11-7 victory in Ann Arbor, Mich. ... In the only other previous meeting, IU eliminated Purdue from the 1993 Big Tournament field with an 11-9 win in Battle Creek, Mich.

Purdue vs. the Big Ten Tournament Field: A look at how Purdue has done in the Big Ten Tournament against the teams advancing to this year's league postseason:
No. 1 Ohio State - 1-6 (Wins: 1993 3-2; Losses: 1995 8-3, 1997 4-2, 2000 9-8, 2004 6-4, 2005 6-5, 2006 2-1)
No. 2 Minnesota - 4-5 (Wins: 1981 9-0, 1987 9-3, 1995 26-3, 2000 6-1; Losses: 1981 8-3, 1986 16-4, 1993 8-3, 2004 6-1, 2005 9-7)
No. 3 Indiana - 1-1 (Wins: 2008 11-7; Losses: 1993 11-9)
No. 4 Illinois - 2-3 (Wins: 2005 4-3, 2006 10-5: Losses: 1997 8-3, 2000 6-2, 2001 9-5)
No. 5 Michigan State - 1-0 (Wins: 2004 6-5; Losses: none)

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 .448 hitter (13 for 29) against the Hoosiers in 10 games. Black has swatted four homers against them, two triples and scored 11 runs with 10 RBIs ... Senior Brandon Haveman has gone 18 for 39 (.462) with two doubles, two triples, a homer, six RBIs and nine runs scored in eight career games vs. IU ... Despite going hitless in three at bats vs. Indiana last season, senior Alex Jaffee has a .429 batting average against IU in 11 career games (12 for 28). Jaffee has hit three homers, a double, scored nine runs and driven in 10 ... Senior Ben Wolgamot has gone 11 for 29 (.379) with a homer, four RBIs and six runs scored against IU in eight career games.

So Close: Out of Purdue's 12 losses in conference in the regular season, seven came by two or less runs. The Boilers dropped five one-run league games and a pair of two-run contests. For the season Purdue has dropped eight 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) all missed considerable time due to injury this season. Outside of Moore, who has been lost for the season, the seniors have all managed to make their way back into the lineup. Nielsen was the latest casualty, injuring his throwing shoulder at the Metrodome on April 24. He is listed as day-to-day.

Walk on the Wild Side: It appears that Dan Black's history, both ancient and recent, are catching up with him. With 35 career homers and 144 RBIs at Purdue, opposing pitchers have opted the safe route with the switch hitting infielder. Black has been issued a Purdue single-season record 59 walks in 48 games this season, including 12 intentional free passes. The walk-a-thon has helped lead to a Big Ten-best .510 on base percentage for the year. Black strolled past the season walk mark at Purdue of 51 set by Brandon Bell in 1994 on an intentional free pass against Indiana on May 2 and is just three shy of equalling the Big Ten season record of 62 shared by Indiana's Joe Sturtz (1993) and Ohio State's Christian Snaverly (2003). Black was walked a season-high five times in a game against Notre Dame on Feb. 22.

One More To Go: Entering the season Dan Black was tied for 12th all-time for career home runs at Purdue with 21. His 14 fence-busters this season have moved him into second on the list with 35. Black's next homer will leave him just three bombs shy equalling Mike Biltimier's (1991-93) all-time high water mark of 39.

Have to Have Haveman: Brandon Haveman has had an impressive senior season, that is when his hamstring finally healed. Despite having missed all or parts of nine games with injury, Haveman leads the Big Ten in batting average (.412), while pacing the Boilermakers in hits (70) and doubles (16), and placing second for Purdue in slugging (.600) and total bases (102).

Big Time in the Big Ten: Coming to Purdue as a JC transfer, senior Brandon Haveman took a liking to playing in Big Ten Conference contests. In 52 career league games over the last two seasons, Haveman hit .453 (97 for 214) with 20 doubles, three triples, four home runs, 22 RBIs and an amazing 64 runs scored. He led the conference in batting average in Big Ten games in back-to-back seasons posting a .444 mark (52 for 117) last year and a .464 average (45 for 97)in league games this season.

Doing the Streak: Senior Brandon Haveman has put together a pretty nice 17-game hitting streak to move past Eric Charles's 14-gamer earlier this season for the longest streak of the year. Dating back to the opener of the Ohio State series on April 17, Haveman is batting .458 (38 for 83) with eight doubles, a triple, two homers, 17 runs scored and 11 RBIs. He has posted eight three-hit games, five two-hit games and just four one-hit games during the streak. The 17-game streak is the longest active one for Purdue and also constitutes a career-long for Haveman.

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 moved into the starting lineup and he has yet to sit down. Starting the last 33 consecutive games for the Boilers, Charles is hitting .409 (54 for 132) with nine doubles, three triples, two home runs, 20 RBIs and 40 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 outfielder 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 the lineup. Jaffee has responded to the call by hitting .386 (39 for 101) with four doubles, five home runs, 20 RBIs and 27 runs scored in the 30 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 21 contests since mending, including 17 starts, and is hitting a team-best .429 (30 for 70) with six doubles, a triple, 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored.

Starting to Click: The Purdue bullpen has certainly taken its lumps this season, but the Boilers would not be playing in the Big Ten Tournament without it. Over the final three Big Ten series of the year (vs. IU, at MSU and vs. Ill) the Boilermaker relievers posted a 3.58 ERA in 27 2/3 innings of work and converted four save chances. Freshman Sean Collins has been the star of the group, as the young right-hander tossed nine shutout innings, allowed only four hits and picked up two saves in four appearances over the final three weeks of the regular season. Junior teammate Drew Wurdack has been as nearly impressive, allowing just two unearned runs in 5 1/3 innings with two saves in four appearances over the same stretch.

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 10 starts since then: 4-3, 4.31 ERA, 73 IP, 3 CG, 76 H, 38 R, 35 ER, 14 BB, 67 K. Bischoff struck out a career-high 12 batters against Mississippi Valley State on March 13.

The Second M: Left-hander Matt Jansen enters his 14th start of the season 4-6 with a 6.52 ERA. He is second for the Boilermakers and tied for 10th in the Big Ten in strikeouts (59), including a career-high 11 at Evansville on March 14.

The Third M: Right-hander Matt Morgan rounds out the Boilermaker rotation and enters his 12th start of the year with a team-best 4.32 ERA and six victories. Morgan has been the hardluck starter for the Boilers this season. Not only did he have 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 a 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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