Final Stats

WESTFIELD, Ind. - The NIU baseball team (9-9) dropped the series finale to Purdue Sunday afternoon as the Boilermakers amassed 24 hits, nine for extra bases to clinch the series, 23-5. Huskies Jason Gasser (Dyer, Ind./Mt. Carmel) went 2-for-4 at the plate with one run plated and a triple while Nate Ruzich (Joliet, Ill./South Suburban College) went 2-for-3 with two runs and double. NIU totaled eight hits.

"It was a grind of a week and I'm disappointed in how we finished the trip. Eight games in nine days on the road is never easy," said Head Coach Mike Kunigonis. "We ended 4-4 with a lot of room for improvement. We'll get back at on Tuesday at Chicago State. I look forward to getting back and playing Huskieball.

After both teams drew blanks in the first inning, Purdue would score throughout the remainder of the game, accounting for five runs in the second and sixth with four more in the eighth.

NIU got on the board in the fifth inning as Ruzich recorded an infield single to third base. An error on a fielder's choice by Justin Fletcher (Pekin, Ill./Illinois Central College) allowed Ruzich to advance to third, setting up Johnny Zubek's (Oak Forest, Ill./Oak Forest) sacrifice fly to break the NIU shutout.

In the sixth, Gasser hit a leadoff triple and would score on the next at bat as Brad Wood (Orland Park, Ill./St. Laurence) grounded out to give the Huskies their second run and make it a 12-2 ball game.

The Huskies biggest output came before the seventh inning stretch as they plated three runs started on Micah McCulloch's (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle Township) leadoff single. Ruzich followed up with a double to put two runners in scoring position with no outs.

Carl Russell (GraysLake, Ill./GraysLake North) hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield to send McCulloch home, followed by an RBI single by Joe Jumonville (Munster, Ind./Munster) to score Ruzich. Wood singled to close the scoring in the inning as he drove Jumonville home to make it 17-5 at the seventh inning stretch.

Purdue's Ted Snidanko, who entered the game in the sixth inning, finished the game 3-for-3 with a three-RBI triple, a grand slam and an RBI single to finish the game with seven runs driven in.

The Huskies closed their spring break with a 4-4 record, taking the opening series at Southern Illinois, 2-1, splitting a midweek set with Murray State and dropping the series versus Purdue, 1-2. It was the first time since 2004 that NIU ended its spring trip with a record of .500 or better as the Huskies went 5-5 that season.

NIU will return to action Tuesday, March 17 when it plays at Chicago State for a St. Patrick's Day matinee on the SouthSide of Chicago. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. Central. NIU's next series will be at Buffalo for the Mid-American Conference opener against the Bulls, starting Friday, March 20.