No. 13 Purdue slips past Illinois State 3-2

[April 25, 2012]  NORMAL -- With a runner on second base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Illinois State missed another opportunity for the big hit and suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to No. 13-ranked Purdue Tuesday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field.

The Redbirds (22-15) left 10 runners on base during the game, while Purdue (32-6) stranded only four. PU's Robert Ramer out-dueled ISU's Brad Sorkin for the win. Sorkin pitched 7 2-3 innings and allowed three runs on nine hits, while striking out one and walking another. The loss dropped Sorkin to 2-3 on the season. Ramer improved to 5-0 after allowing an unearned run over five innings.

Purdue cracked the scoring column first with a run in the top of the second, but the lead was short-lived as Illinois State plated a run in the bottom on the inning. Mike Hollenbeck sent Kyle Stanton home on a sacrifice fly to left field, after Stanton reached on an error by Purdue third baseman Cameron Perkins.

After Perkins doubled down the left-field line in the top of the fourth inning for Purdue, Kevin Plawecki belted his fourth home run of the season to give the Boilermakers a 3-1 lead. Sorkin was able to contain Purdue from scoring any more runs, thanks to five double plays turned by the Redbird defense, including four in the game's first four innings.

The Redbirds cut into the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Matt Mirabal singled home Zac Johnson, who had reached earlier on a base hit. Both hits and the run came off Purdue's Calvin Gunter, who came on in relief.

ISU again threatened in the bottom of the ninth, as Ty Weismeyer was the potential tying run on second base. However, the Boilers used three pitchers in the inning, and closer Nick Wittgren got ISU's Kevin Tokarski to strike out to end the game and earn his ninth save of the season.

Johnson and Mirabal each posted two hits as the Redbirds combined for nine.

Purdue entered the game as the first nationally ranked team to play at Duffy Bass Field since the facility was renovated in 2009.

Illinois State will be back in action Friday, when the Redbirds play the first of three games at Creighton. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

[Text from news release received from Todd Kober, Illinois State University]