TicketsFeb. 20, 2009
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Senior Mike Spina (Newberry, Fla./Newberry) and sophomore Justin Riddell (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic) blasted two home runs apiece, but it was not enough as a walk-off single by Dan Black gave the Purdue University Boilermakers an 11-10 victory in the season-opener at the Raymond A. Naimoli Complex on Friday.
Riddell went 4-for-4 from the plate with two doubles and two home runs, while Spina went 3-for-5 with five RBI.
UC did not waste any time putting runs on the board as the Bearcats scored two runs in the first inning, both with two outs. Junior Jamel Scott (Dublin, Ohio/Dublin Scioto) started the season off with a double to left field, placing a runner in scoring position with no outs. After a strikeout and fly out left Scott at second base with two outs, Spina came to the dish for the first time in 2009 and hammered a one ball-zero strike fastball over the centerfield fence to put UC in front, 2-0.
Purdue responded in its half of the first inning by manufacturing a run courtesy of a sacrifice fly. Second baseman Ben Wolgamot doubled to right field with one out, before advancing to third base on a wild pitch. During the following at bat, a sacrifice fly to left field brought the Boilermakers within one run, 2-1.
Purdue bounced back with three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take its first lead of the day, 4-2, but UC countered with three runs on four hits in the top of the third to jump back on top, 5-4. Sophomore Chris Peters (Tipp City, Ohio/Tipp City) jumped on the first pitch he saw in the frame and drove the ball in the gap in left-centerfield for a bases-empty double. Peters did not spend much time on the base paths as senior Cameron Satterwhite (Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller) collected a double of his own to plate Peters and bring UC within one run, 4-3.
Two batters later, junior Lance Durham (Forest Park, Ohio/Roger Bacon) bounced a seeing-eye single through the right side to tie the game at four. A double by Riddell placed runners on second and third base with one out, and junior Kevin Johnson (Willard, Ohio/Willard) scored Durham on a ground ball to the right side to put UC in front.
After giving up four runs in the first two innings, senior Michael Hill (Proctorville, Ohio/Fairland) settled down in innings three through five as he struck out seven batters in those frames. Hill threw 5.0 innings, giving up four runs while striking out eight men.
In the top of the sixth inning, Riddell tacked on another run with a solo home run to left field, pushing the Bearcat advantage to two runs, 6-4.
Just as the UC lead reached two runs, Purdue struck back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game at six. Despite scoring two runs, Purdue had runners on first and second base with its top power hitter at the plate in Black, but senior Billy Welsh (Westlake, Ohio/Westlake) came out of the bullpen to strike out Black and end the threat.
Spina and Riddell quickly put Cincinnati back in front in the top of the seventh as each hit their second home run of the day, both to center field, pushing the Bearcats back in front, 8-6.
The see-saw battle continued in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Boilermakers manufactured two runs to tie the game for fourth time. Purdue scored its two runs in the inning off of three singles and a sacrifice bunt.
As was the case all day, once Purdue tied the contest at eight, UC went right back on top in the top of the eighth inning. Freshman Dorian West (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) collected the first hit of his career with an infield single to the shortstop, before being erased on a fielder's choice of the bat of Scott. After Scott stole second base, Peters and Satterwhite both drew walks to load the bases for Spina. Spina delivered again for UC with a two-out, two-RBI single into left field, extending the Bearcats lead back to two runs, 10-8.
Purdue scored one time in the eighth inning to close within one run, 10-9, giving Cincinnati an opportunity to add to its lead in the ninth.
After going scoreless in its half of the ninth inning, Cincinnati was three outs away from closing out the Boilermakers. With two outs and a runner on third base, Wolgamot tied the game on a single. Two batters later, Black hit a single to the wall in left field to send the Boilermakers to an 11-10 win.
UC returns to the field on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 4 p.m. when it meets Michigan at Bright House Networks Field.