Michigan State University
Purdue
Baseball Comes Up Short at Purdue
5/8/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
May 8, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue broke a 4-4 tie with four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and defeated the Michigan State baseball team, 8-5, in game one of the three-game series on Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind. Torsten Boss went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead MSU, which is now 28-15 and 7-9 in the Big Ten. Purdue improved to 27-17 overall and 9-7 in the conference.
Purdue led 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning when Michigan State got on the board with a two-out double by Boss that scored Brandon Eckerle.
The Boilermaker's regained the lead, 2-1, with a two-out RBI double of their own in the top of the fourth from Jonathan Lilly.
Spartan staring pitcher A.J. Achter retired the first two Purdue hitters in the bottom of the sixth inning, but a double by Cameron Perkins kept the inning alive. The hit proved costly as Lilly and Nick Overmeyer then followed consecutive RBI singles to up the lead to 4-1.
Michigan State fought back though in the top of the seventh - scoring three runs to knot the game at four. Jeff Holm led off the inning with his 18th double of the year and Boss then brought him in with his second RBI double of the day. Two-batters later, Chris Roberts doubled Boss home, and later with two outs, Andy Johnson's RBI single tied the game.
The tie game was short lived however, as Angelo Cianfrocco hit a three-run homer off Spartan reliever Tony Wieber to highlight a four-run seventh inning for Purdue as it reclaimed the lead, 8-4.
A wild pitch by Purdue's Matt Jansen led to one Spartan run in the eighth, making the score 8-5.
Achter fell to 4-3 with the loss as he went 6.1 innings and allowed seven runs off 10 hits. Purdue starter Matt Bischoff lasted 7.1 innings, allowing five runs, four earned, off seven hits, improving to 8-1 on the year.
The two teams will meet again on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Notes: MSU junior shortstop Jonathan Roof was one of 25 college baseball players included on the quarterfinal list for the Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Award that was released on Saturday... Roof, who is hitting .328 this season, is the only shortstop from the Big Ten on the list ... The award will be presented July 2.
