Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Purdue
Baseball Falls At Purdue, 10-5
April 13, 2010 | Baseball
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Ball State baseball team stepped out of conference play Tuesday afternoon and suffered a 10-5 loss against Big Ten foe Purdue at Lambert Field. The loss drops the Cardinals to 13-18 overall while the Boilermakers improve to 16-14 on the year.
Ball State opened the scoring in the top of the first inning against Purdue left-hander Pat Gannon. Junior shortstop T.J. Baumet (Brownsburg, Ind./Brownsburg) returned to the lineup after missing two games due to an injury and quickly ripped a single into left center field to lead off the ball game. Junior Kolbrin Vitek (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) put the Cardinals in front 2-0 as he crushed a 1-1 pitch high over the center field wall for his team-leading ninth home run of the year.
Purdue quickly responded in the bottom of the first inning against BSU senior right-hander Brad Piatt (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass). The Boilermakers took advantage of an early BSU error to score two unearned runs on Kevin Plawecki tallied a two-run double off of the center field wall to tie the game at two apiece.
The Cardinals retook the lead in the top of the second inning as freshman Stephen Claypool (Dearborn, Mich./Divine Child) and sophomore Mitch Widau (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) dropped in singles to put runners at the corners with two outs. Baumet came through with his second straight single to left center field to plate Claypool and put the Cardinals in front 3-2.
Purdue tied the game at 3-3 with a single run in the bottom of the third inning to chase Piatt from the game. The Boilermakers led off the inning with three straight singles to tie the game. Piatt got the first out of the inning on a fielder's choice before right-hander Seth Hobbs (Marseilles, Ill./Seneca) came on in relief and quickly induced a ground ball double play to end the inning without any additional damages.
Purdue broke open the game in the bottom of the fourth inning as it scored seven runs and took advantage of two BSU errors as only one of the runs were earned in the frame. The Boilermakers tallied four hits in the inning and were also aided by two BSU walks and a hit by pitch to take the 10-3 lead.
Ball State answered back with two runs in the top of the fifth inning to narrow the gap to 10-5. Baumet started things off with his third single of the game and freshman Blake Beemer (Clayton, Ohio/Northmont) was hit by a pitch to put two aboard. Vitek drove in his third run of the game as he singled up the middle to plate Baumet and senior Zach Dygert (Angola, Ind./Angola) followed with a run-scoring single through the left side for the Cardinals' second run of the inning.
Both teams were held scoreless over the final four innings as three Cardinal relievers posted 3.2 shutout innings and two Purdue relievers combined for 4.2 scoreless innings. Hobbs (2-1) was charged with the loss as he allowed seven runs, only one earned, in 2.0 innings. Gannon (3-1) picked up the victory as he allowed five runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings of work.
The Cardinals return home to Ball Diamond Wednesday afternoon for the first of five straight home games as Ball State hosts Indiana Tech at 3 p.m.
####
