March 31, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Penn State baseball (7-18, 1-4) dropped its second game of a three game series to the Purdue Boilermakers on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore pitcher Joe Kurrasch (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) pitched phenomenally, as he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
Purdue's Lance Breedlove pitched a two-hit shutout to earn the win for the Boilermakers. Breedlove took a perfect game into the seventh inning as well, but senior Sean Deegan (Readington, N.J.) broke it up with a base-hit. Junior Elliot Searer (Lewistown, Pa.) contributed the other Nittany Lion hit.
Kurrasch followed up his Indiana start with a gem on Saturday. The sophomore went 7.1 innings of three hit ball. He also punched out five batters. He did walk four, but he kept the nation's top hitting team in check.
Taking the no-hitter into the seventh inning, Kurrasch gave up his first hit of the game to Kevin Plawecki. Chris Antonelli would drive Plawecki in later in the inning to give Purdue a 1-0 lead. A David Miller RBI triple would give the Boilermakers a 2-0 lead, as that's all they would need.
Penn State's closest opportunity came in the eighth inning. With two outs, a hustling double by Searer would give the Nittany Lions a runner in scoring position. Penn State was unable to drive him in however. Breedlove for Purdue did not walk a batter and struck out five hitters on the day.
Penn State closes its three game set with the Boilermakers at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon at Lambert Field. Junior Steven Hill (Colleyville, Texas) will get the start on the mound for the Nittany Lions.
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