University of Minnesota Athletics
Baseball Falls to Purdue 15-6 in Series Finale
5/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
The Minnesota baseball team (26-16, 13-7) fell to Purdue (21-21, 10- 10) 15-6 in the series finale on Sunday, May 2 at Siebert Field. With the victory, Purdue salvaged the final game of the series to avoid getting swept in four games by Minnesota.
Purdue also snapped an 11-game losing to Minnesota that date back to the 2002 season. It was the second-highest run total Minnesota has given up this season.
Designated hitter John Hunter set the tone for the Boilermakers as he homered three times, and was three-for-four with four runs and nine RBI.
Hunter's first home run was a grand slam in the top of the first that put Purdue ahead 4-0. The Boilermakers added a single run in the inning to go up 5-0, and moved ahead 8-0 on Hunter's second home run of the day, a three-run home run.
Minnesota's An dy Hunter (West St. Paul, Minn.) delivered a solo home run of his own, his eighth of the season, to bring the lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the second inning.
The Golden Gophers narrowed the gap to 8-4 with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Ma tt Fornasiere (Maple Grove, Minn.) brought home the first run of the inning on an RBI single to make it 8-2. Mi ke Mee followed with an RBI single of his own to cut the score to 8-3. Two batters later, Ja ke Elder (Delta, Columbia) delivered an infield RBI single to bring the lead to 8-4. Minnesota threatened to do more damage, but Purdue starter Chris Toneguzzi struck out Da vid Hrncirik (Madison, Wis.) to end the inning.
Purdue blew the game open again with four runs in the top of the fourth to go up 12-4. Minnesota appeared as if it would escape the inning trailing just 9-4, after Simon Klink recorded the second out on a sacrifice fly. However, Mitch Koester delivered an RBI double to make it 10-4 and Rob Brockel brought home two runs on a single to extend the lead to 12-4.
Hunter added a sacrifice fly for Minnesota in the bottom of the seventh to make it 12-5, and had an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.
Purdue added three more runs for the final tally of 15-6.
Ma tt Loberg (Anoka, Minn.) started and took the loss for Minnesota, as he gave up five runs in one-third on an inning. Loberg dropped to 2-3 on the season. Toneguzzi gave up nine hits and four runs in six innings to pick up the win for Purdue, as he moved to 3-3. Jason Driscoll gave up two runs in three innings to pick up the save for the Boilermakers.
Minnesota's Jo hn Gaub (South St. Paul, Minn.) pitched effectively in relief, with three scoreless innings, giving up only one hit and striking out five batters.
Hunter paced Minnesota offensively, as he went three-for-four with a home run and three RBI. Fornasiere was also three-for-five with two runs and an RBI.
Sa m Steidl (Alexandria, Minn.) was two-for-four to move him to 288 career hits. With his 288th hit, he moved past Luke Appert (2000- 2003) for second place on Minnesota's all-time hits list. He is only 12 hits from becoming the second Golden Gopher in school history to record 300 hits in his career.
Mitch Hilligoss joined John Hunter with three hits for Purdue, as he went three-for-five with three runs.
Minnesota will be back in action on Tuesday, May 4 when it plays Hamline University at 4 p.m. at Siebert. Field. The Golden Gophers will then resume Big Ten play when they host Iowa on May 7-9. The first game will be on Friday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m., followed by a doubleheader on Saturday, May 8 at 2 p.m. and a single game on Sunday,
