Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Valparaiso wrapped up its non-conference portion of the 2007 schedule on Wednesday afternoon dropping a 7-2 decision to Purdue at Emory G. Bauer Field.

The Boilermakers tallied hits in eight of the nine innings as part of a 14-hit attack while Connor Sestak (1-1) worked five innings allowing just one run and two hits to earn the victory.

Purdue (22-28) jumped in front in the second on a two-run double off the bat of Spencer Ingaldson. A fielding error made it 3-0 Boilermakers in the fourth before Ryan Manthei (Kenosha, Wis./Tremper H.S.) led off the bottom of the fourth belting his third homerun of the season to leftfield.

A double by Alex Jaffee and an Eric Nielsen sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fifth and a run-scoring single by Ryne White in the sixth increased Purdue's lead to 6-1.

Manthei singled and scored in the bottom of the sixth, coming across the plate when Brian Rzepka (South Bend, Ind./Penn H.S.) reached on a Purdue error, one of five by the Boilermakers in the game.

The visitors tacked on one more run in the eighth to push the lead back to five. Valpo loaded the bases in the ninth against Josh Lindblom, but he registered a strikeout to end the game.

Ranko Ivetic (Schererville, Ind./Lake Central H.S.) started and suffered the loss (2-5) for the Crusaders, allowing three runs, two of which were earned, and eight hits in four innings of work.

Valparaiso (17-32, 6-10 Mid-Con) will wrap up the regular season this weekend with a four-game set against Southern Utah (11-41, 6-10). First pitch on Friday at Emory G. Bauer Field is set for 3 p.m.