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University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota - Purdue Blog
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Minnesota (24 - 12, 7 - 4) hosts Purdue (17 - 18, 5 - 6) at the Metrodome at 6:35 PM. Minnesota comes into the contest in fourth place in the conference and Purdue is in fifth. Tonight's game is the first match-up in a three game series. Tomorrow's game will begin at 2:05 PM and first pitch for Sunday's game is set for 1:05 PM. Tonight's game is also on the Big Ten Network.
Taylor Vander Aarde is your blog host. Please email him at gopherbaseballblog@yahoo.com with questions and comments on tonight's game. Questions will be discussed throughout the blog.
Here are your starting line-ups.
Purdue 1) Brandon Haveman LF 2) Eric Charles 2B 3) Dan Black 3B 4) Drew Madia 1B 5) David Blount RF 6) John Cummins DH 7) Barrett Serrato SS 8) Alex Jaffee CF 9) Eric Nielsen C SP) Matt Bischoff
Minnesota 1) Matt Nohelty DH 2) AJ Pettersen SS 3) Derek McCallum 2B 4) Michael Kvasnicka RF 5) Kyle Knudson C 6) Nick O'Shea 1B 7) Eric Decker CF 8) Justin Gominsky LF 9) Kyle Geason 3B SP) Chauncy Handran
6:35 PM - Chauncy Handran delivers the first pitch of the game.
6:37 PM - The Gophers enter the game with a .983 fielding percentage in the Metrodome. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Top 1.
6:47 PM - Matt Bischoff has turned around his season after getting off to a rough start. In his first three starts, Biscoff went 0 - 1, with a 10.93 E.R.A. in 14 innings of work. Bischoff gave up 23 hits, 17 earned runs, six walks, and ten strikeouts. Since then, the Purdue right-hander has gone 3 - 2 with a 3.13 E.R.A with 43 hits, 16 earned runs, nine walks, and 48 strikeouts in 46 innings. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Bottom 1.
6:53 PM - Gopher fans, Matt Nohelty needs your help! Our senior lead-off batter is up for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award which is given to an athlete who exels in the classroom, on the field, in community service, and displays high character. Matt embodies what this award is all about and he deserves your vote. To punch the ticket for Nohelty, go to the website below and vote! Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Bottom 2
http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=38638&SPID=3298&DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=3720421
6:55 PM - Chauncy Handran's sinking fast ball is moving all over the strike zone tonight. The late movement on his pitches is resulting in ground ball outs. All six outs have been retired on grounders. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Bottom 2.
7:05 PM - Today's game marks the first time Minnesota has been on the Big Ten Network in 2009. The Gophers will be on BTN again on May 15 and 16 when they travel to State College, PA to face the Penn State Nittany Lions. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Top 3.
7:22 PM - What is a Boilermaker? The nickname stems from a Crawfordsville, Indiana newspaper which covered a football game between Purdue and Wabash College in 1891. The paper commented on the hard working "boiler makers" wearing the black and old gold from West Lafayette. Purdue has a long history of being a leader in engineering and in 1891 had acquired a locomotive laboratory which is why they were nicknamed the "boiler makers" by the Crawfordsville Papers. Over the years, Purdue teams have been called grangers, pumpkin-shuckers, railsplitters, cornfield sailors, blacksmiths, foundry hands, and, finally, boilermakers. Source: www.purduesports.com. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Bottom 3.
Big Ten Update
Illinois 6 at Penn State 3, Bottom 7
Indiana 1 at Michigan 3, Top 6
Northwestern 4 at Ohio State 2, Top 6
Michigan State 9 at Iowa 3, Bottom 4.
7:34 PM - Former Gopher pitcher Dusty Brabender is spotted in the audience as well as former Gopher volleyball player Jessica Byrnes. Purdue 0, Minnesota 0, Top 5.
7:50 PM - Minnesota's middle infielders (Derek McCallum and AJ Pettersen) are hitting .419 and .426 in the month of April, respectively. Purdue 0, Minnesota 1, Bottom 5. In fact, the whole infield has been hot lately as third baseman Kyle Geason is hitting .450 in his last six games and Nick O'Shea hit .381 with two homers and six RBI's during the week of April 6 - 11. Purdue 0, Minnesota 1, Top 6.
7:55 PM - Knudson nails Eric Charles attempting to steal second. The junior catcher is having a terrific season throwing runners out. Knudson has thrown out 42.6 percent of attempted stolen bases. Knudson's mark is tops in the Big Ten among regular catchers. Purdue 0, Minnesota 1, Top 6.
8:00 PM - Purdue's Dan Black already has two walks on the evening which gives him 49 on the year. Black is leading the Big Ten in walks by a wide margin. Minnesota's Kyle Geason is second in the conference with 31 walks. Black's high walk total is also the main reason he is also leading the conference in on-base percentage at .539 (Black's batting average is .333). Indiana's Josh Phegley is second in the conference with at .475. Purdue 0, Minnesota 1, Bottom 6.
8:24 PM - Chauncy Handran has now pitched seven innings in six of his last eight starts. It's stretch time here in the Metrodome. Purdue 1, Minnesota 1, Bottom 7.
Big Ten Update
Indiana 2 at Michigan 6 Final
Northwestern 4 at Ohio State 5, Final
Michigan State 14 at Iowa 7, Bottom 6
Illinois 7 at Penn State 3, Final
8:42 PM - Luke Rasmussen enters the game in relief of Chauncy Handran. Rasmussen is 2 - 0 with a 4.19 E.R.A. in 19.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 15, walked six, and given up 19 hits. Rasmussen now has 13 appearances on the season. Purdue 3, Minnesota 1, Top 8.
8:51 PM - Purdue's Matt Bischoff is only one inning short of throwing another complete game. Bischoff's last two outings have been complete games and he has gone the distance in three of his last four outings. Purdue 3, Minnesota 1, Top 9.
9:04 PM - Derek McCallum has reached base 24 consecutive games. McCallum has two walks on the evening. Purdue 3, Minnesota 1, Bottom 9.
9:08 PM - Mike Kvasnicka delivers his 13th double on the season with two runners on base. Kvasnicka's RBI's tie up the game with 0 outs. Kvasnicka is now tied for second in the conference in doubles. Purdue replaces Matt Bischoff with Kevin Cahill. Bischoff threw 127 pitches in eight plus innings of work. Purdue 3, Minnesota 3, Bottom 9.
9:22 PM - Minnesota wins on a Justin Gominsky sacrifice fly to right field. Knudson tags up from third on the play to give the Gophers the victory in the series opener! Purdue 3, Minnesota 4, FINAL.
Time of Game: 2:45
Attendance: 402
