Michigan State University
Purdue
Spartans Split Saturday Doubleheader At Purdue
5/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 10, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Michigan State baseball team split a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Purdue's Lambert Field. The Spartans defeated the Boilermakers, 11-3, before dropping a 6-2 decision in the nightcap. Junior Eric Roof had four RBI and senior Chris Cullen got the win for MSU in game one. MSU (24-24, 12-14 Big Ten) has won two of the first three games of the series. The Spartans have won 11 of their past 14 games.
In game one, Eckerle went 3-for-4 and had three RBI and Eric Roof went 3-for-4 and drove in four runs. Cullen (5-3) worked four innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out two.
Michigan State battered Purdue's pitching in game one, scoring in five of the first six innings. The Spartans got three runs in the first inning and four in the third. A sac fly to center by Roberts opened the scoring. Eric Roof and Eckerle laced RBI singles later in the inning to put the Spartans up 3-0.
Eric Roof and Eckerle collected RBI singles again in the third. Eric Roof's hit chased Purdue starter Matt Jansen, and Eckerle smacked Kevin Cahill's second pitch of the day through the right side of the infield. Two batters later, senior Brandon Doherty sent a two-run single through the left side of the infield.
After MSU added a pair of unearned runs in the fourth to take a 9-0 lead, senior Steve Gerstenberger scored freshman Jeff Holm with a sac fly to deep center. In the sixth inning, Eckerle collected his third RBI single of the game to make it 11-3. Purdue scored its only runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Purdue (27-22, 18-9) answered in the second game, scoring four runs in the first two innings off MSU starter Mark Sorensen. A Dan Black sac fly and an RBI single to center by John Cummins in the first inning gave the Boilermakers a 2-0 lead. Kyle Reesing walked and scored and another sac fly from Black made it 4-0.
Eckerle, who went 2-for-3 in game two, singled and scored in the top of the third to put Michigan State on the board. Later in the inning, Jonathan Roof drove in Doherty with a fielder's choice. Doherty beat out an infield single earlier in the inning.
Purdue's Brandon Haveman tripled and scored in the bottom of the fourth and Jordan Comadena had an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth. Left-hander Kyle Cook (4-2) was the winning pitcher for PU. Sorensen, who allowed four runs (three earned) over two innings, falls to 3-6 on the year.
The series finale is set for Sunday at 12 p.m. It was originally schedule for 1 p.m. but was moved up an hour due to impending rain in the West Lafayette area.
NOTES
Cullen's fifth win is a career high. He entered the season with six career wins...Roberts' sixth triple of the season leads the Big Ten...Eric Roof now has a team-high four 4-RBI games this season...Gerstenberger had a 14-game hitting streak snapped in game one...MSU had four straight games of double-digit hits as a team until Saturday's nightcap. The Spartans are averaging 9.5 hits over their past eight games.
