May 27, 2010

Site: Columbus, Ohio (Bill Davis Stadium)
Score: Purdue 11, Northwestern 1
Records: NU (24-32), Purdue (32-23)

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Third-seeded Northwestern saw its season come to an end Thursday afternoon at the 2010 Big Ten Tournament as the Wildcats were eliminated by fifth-seeded Purdue with a 11-1 loss at Bill Davis Stadium.

The loss brings NU's season to a close with a record of 24-32.

"We just weren't able to get the clutch hits that we needed the past couple of days," Northwestern head coach Paul Stevens said. "We were able to get men on base, but struggled to bring them in.

"I'm extremely proud of this group of young men. They were a joy to coach and showed a lot of perseverance and resilience all season long."

After allowing four runs in the first inning of a loss to Indiana on Wednesday, it was the second inning that did the Wildcats in against the Boilermakers. Back-to-back doubles by Drew Madia and Kevin Plawecki plated Purdue's first run before Barrett Serrato plated another with an RBI single. A successful squeeze bunt by David Blount made it a 3-0 game before another the Boilermakers got one final run off Francis Brooke on a run-scoring hit by Tyler Spillner.

A day after being shutout by the Hoosiers and stranding nine baserunners, Northwestern's struggles to put runs on the board continues against Purdue. The Wildcats had a great opportunity to break through against Matt Bischoff in the top of the fourth as it put runners on the corners with one out, but a double play ended the threat.

David Jensen hurled a pair of scoreless frames in relief of Brooke, but Purdue was able to open things up in the bottom of the fifth. The Boilermakers scored three times in the frame thanks in part to a pair of NU errors. With runners on the corners and one out, Madia singled home a run to make it 5-0. A Northwestern miscue loaded the bases before Barret Arthur hit a routine grounder to first, but the throw to the plate to try to record the forceout was errant allowing another run to score.

Michael Jahns came on to relieve Jensen and got a flyout by Cameron Perkins that plated a run. However, Plawecki was caught in between second and third on the play to end the inning as the Wildcats recorded their fourth double play of the contest and 12th in the last three games.

NU was finally able to get on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth inning. Chris Lashmet started the inning with a single to left and moved to second on a wild pitch. He was at third with two down when Alex Seyferth drove a single through the right side to finally plate the Wildcats' first run.

Purdue added two runs to its total in the bottom of the seventh as Plawecki singled home a pair to make it 9-1. Senior left-hander Joe Muraski came on in relief with the bases loaded and no one out and prevented any further damage by getting a forceout at the plate, a strikeout and a lineout.

Luke Farrell, Jack Havey, Steve Sanders and Quentin Williams all saw time on the mound in the eighth inning as the Boilermakers tacked on two final runs. Ryan Bridges had a run-scoring groundout, while Jon Moore added a sacrifice fly.

Northwestern had 10 hits in the contest, led by two apiece from Seyferth, Arby Fields, Chad Noble and Trevor Stevens.

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter and become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! Get the latest news, schedule updates, video and interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!