April 6, 2003

Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score

West Lafayette, Ind. - The University of Illinois baseball team dropped a pair of games to Purdue Sunday afternoon by scores of 7-6 and 4-3 on a frigid afternoon at Lambert Field that saw wind chills dip near the single digits. The pair of one-run losses drop the Illini to 14-9 overall and 3-5 in the Big Ten as Purdue took the weekend series, three games to one. Purdue is currently 14-12 on the year and 4-4 in the Big Ten.

Illinois took a quick 4-0 lead in game one but was unable to withstand a late Purdue rally. The Illini plated a pair of runs in both the first and second innings, in the first on a two-out, two-RBI single off the bat of third baseman Dusty Bensko, and in the second off run-scoring singles from first baseman Andy Schutzenhofer and leftfielder Drew Davidson.

But Purdue came charging back at Illini starter Josh Lane in the bottom of the second, as the Boilers plated single runs in the second, third and fourth to climb within a run before erupting for three runs in the fifth off Lane and reliever Reilly Smith to take a 5-4 lead.

But Illinois came right back, staging a sixth-inning rally off Purdue relievers Josh Herman and Dustin Glant that saw two runs scored to give Illinois the lead back at 6-5. Catcher Sean Patrick led off the inning with an infield single, and Brian Raymond, pinch running for Patrick, went to second on a balk. He then advanced to third on a groundout off the bat of T.F. Meagher and scored to tie the game on a two-out double off the bat of Schutzenhofer. Schutzenhofer promptly went on to hand Illinois a 6-5 lead when he scored as Davidson followed his double of his own to right field.

But Illini closer Dave Mazurek, who had pitched Smith out of jam in the sixth, was unable to close the door on the Boilers in the bottom of the seventh. A one-out double, walk and single loaded the bases for first baseman Eric Wolfe, who sent a single through the left side of the infield to plate catcher Ben Fritz and win the game for Purdue.

The game one win went to Purdue closer Dustin Glant, who improved to 2-0 on the year after allowing one run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Mazurek suffered the loss, falling to 2-2 on the year, after allowing a run on three hits in 2/3 innings of work.

Game two started slowly until the bottom of the second inning, when Purdue plated a pair of runs off Illini starter Jimmy Conroy to start the scoring. Illinois quickly responded in the top of the third, taking a 3-2 lead with three runs of their own off Purdue starter Chris Toneguzzi.

Right fielder Joe Parenti got it started with a one-out single, and Schutzenhofer and Davidson followed with singles of their own. Parenti scored on Davidson's single, and Bensko followed Davidson's single with a walk that loaded the bases for Trevor Frederickson, who sent a single into center that scored both Schutzenhofer and Davidson to give Illinois the 3-2 lead.

Conroy was able to hold that lead until the fifth inning when he allowed a lead-off single and hit the second batter of the inning to put runners on first and second with no one out. Both runners would eventually circle the bases on three wild pitches thrown by Conroy, opening up a 4-3 lead for Purdue.

Illinois attempted to rally in both the sixth and seventh but left runners stranded in both innings. Toneguzzi picked up the win in game two, throwing seven complete innings and allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out five, walked three and hit two batters to improve to 3-1 on the year. Conroy suffered the loss, falling to 2-1 on the year after allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. He walked two and struck out one.

Offensively, Davidson and Schutzenhofer led the way over the doubleheader. Davidson was 3-for-6 at the plate on the afternoon with a double and three RBI, while Schutzenhofer went 4-for-7 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI.

Illinois returns to action this week with a pair of midweek games at Illinois Field. Illinois will play host to Indiana State Tuesday and MacMurray College Wednesday. First pitch for both games is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.