April 24, 1998

Wildcat Baseball Falls to Purdue, 13-8

Anderson knocks pinch-hit homer

EVANSTON, Ill. - Purdue's Ryan Cole knocked a three-run, pinch hit homer in the seventh inning to lead the Boilermakers to a 13-8 victory over Northwestern on Friday afternoon. PU improves to 18-22, 6-11 Big Ten, while NU drops to 19-19, 4-13 Big Ten.

The Wildcats opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Ollie Dunn singled home Mike Stritch with the game's first run. Purdue answered on the first pitch of the third inning as second baseman Nate Sickler hit his first homer of the year to right field. NU answered with a run in the fourth inning, taking a 2-1 lead when J.P. Williamson scored on an error by Boilermaker shortstop David Blomberg. Also in that inning, sophomore first baseman Patrick Thompson singled to center field for his 100th career hit.

Both teams batted around in the fifth inning as Purdue posted six runs on six hits in the top half of the inning for a 7-2 lead. The Wildcats clawed back in the bottom half of the fifth, using an error by Purdue third baseman Daryl Hallada to score four unearned runs. Ollie Dunn knocked a two-RBI single and pinch hitter Joe Hietpas smacked the first pitch he saw for an RBI single to make the score 7-6. NU loaded the bases with two outs, but Ken Kilian flied out to deep center field to end the inning.

Purdue took control in the seventh on Cole's three-run homer and added three additional runs in the eighth inning to take a 13-6 lead. Wildcat sophomore Jason Anderson, pinch hitting in the bottom of the ninth, homered to left field, a two-run shot to make the final score 13-8.

NU hurler Phil Rosengren (0-5) took the loss, allowing 12 hits and eight runs in six-plus innings. Freshman Jacob Briskman looked good in tossing a perfect ninth inning for NU. Offensively, Stritch went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Brian Baron, Patrick Thompson, Ollie Dunn and Bob Dainton added two hits apiece in the losing cause.

The Wildcats and Purdue continue the series Saturday afternoon with a 1 p.m. doubleheader at Rocky Miller Park. The weekend concludes with a 1 p.m. single game on Sunday.