WEB EXTRA: Brookes stays hot on mound to help MSU beat Purdue, cold temperatures
How cold was it on Sunday at Kobs Field? So cold that junior second baseman Steve Gerstenberger wore four layers of Under Armour under his jersey to fight the game-time wind chill of 23 degrees. "I can hardly move," he said, "but at least I'm warm." So cold that despite the grounds crew's attempts to clear the field before the game with leaf blowers, snow was still piled along the fences — something home-plate umpire Bruce Doane said he has never seen in 35 years. So cold that Purdue rented a microwave from the hotel it was staying at and used it to heat chicken soup in its dugout. But not cold enough to cool down senior pitcher Craig Brookes, who threw seven innings and allowed two runs — one earned — to lead the MSU baseball team to a 3-2 win against the Boilermakers. "Good old Brookesy," MSU head coach David Grewe said of his ace, who kept his conference-leading ERA at 1.29 on an afternoon that felt more like Christmas Eve than Easter Sunday. What was supposed to be the finale of a four-game weekend set ended up being the series opener because of the weather.