March 26, 2012 

Big Ten Play Begins

This week marks the beginning of conference play for most of the nation, including the Big Ten. The Boilermaker Dream Team headed to Columbus, Ohio to begin our journey to what hopes to be the first Big Ten Championship since 1909. This was the first time that the Boilers had met up against the Buckeyes in three years and proved to be worth the wait.

There is something about playing in conference that brings about another level of difficulty. You feel as though your opponent knows you better than you know yourself. In most instances this is the case, especially for fourth and fifth-year seniors, as the hitting and pitching charts have collected information/stats/tendencies since you first stepped on the field, leaving only your Social Security number unknown. The Boilers arrived on Thursday evening for a short practice session, allowing the athletes to get accustomed to the artificial turf on Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.

Friday, seemingly the worst day for baseball this season, brought some adversity to the pre-game as we were forced to complete our batting practice indoors because of lightning that appeared to be touching down in West Lafayette. Both teams waited as minimal rain fell for over an hour leaving all to practicing rain delay rituals such as debating the true average of ten, used to grade gir… well never mind. The game would be postponed until Saturday, forcing yet another doubleheader, as apparently the ‘astro-turf’ can get quite soggy.

“Let the boys play, let ‘em play” -Herman Boone.

Led by a strong pitching performance by “Bazooka” Joe Haase and clutch hitting by the now self-proclaimed El Conquistador (you heard it here first) as well as Angelo “One Man Band” Cianfrocco, the Boilers were able to take Game 1 8-5, opening up the possibility of a Saturday sweep. After enjoying the team’s favorite Honey Baked Ham (back from its Triple A assignment), “The Pack” put up three in the first and did not look back as they would once again score eight, more than enough for Lance “O-H-I-own you” Breedlove. Lance dominated the Buckeyes from start to finish as he struck out 10, allowing only one, scrappy run in the ninth. Against the state of Ohio this year, (Cincinnati, OSU) Breedlove has worked 16 innings, yielding one run while striking out an impressive 21 Ohioans…Ohioites...batters from the state of Ohio. 

Sunday would prove to be a great day for the some 800 fans that sought to turn Bill Davis stadium into the hostile environment that we had become accustomed to during our pre-conference season. This was a battle from the beginning, as we were down 2-1 going into the eight when the “You can’t stop them, you can only hope to contain them” Pack came to life grinding out a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes would strike back in the bottom of the eighth to “nick” out two more runs which would prove to be enough, ending the game in a 5-4 loss.

As we are driving home, reflecting on the weekend, not to mention still trying to resolve the irony of “The” Ohio State and the word ‘integrity’ being used in conjunction with one another (see photo left), we are looking forward to a solid week at home after starting the year with six consecutive weeks on the road. This week will play host to our home and home-conference openers. It looks to be a great week of weather for baseball and we hope to see a good turnout at Alexander…. I mean Lambert Field; unless someone knows how to finish a stadium by Tuesday. Rome was built in one day right?

Thanks for reading,

Cal Gunter and David Miller

(photos courtesy of Purdue Media Relations Office)