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May 18, 2001 On the heels of one of its most successful seasons in the history of the program, six Purdue baseball players were rewarded for their efforts by being named All-Big Ten. Purdue had four first-team selections, which included Dave Blomberg at second base, Mike Duursma at shortstop, Nate Sickler at center field and Dave Gassner at pitcher. Ben Quick was a second team selection at pitcher while David Harrell was a third team selection at catcher. Blomberg had a career season, offensively and defensively for the Boilermakers. He started all 54 regular season games, finishing with a career-high .361 batting average, leading the team with 18 stolen bases and tied for second with 17 doubles. Blomberg was second on the team in conference play with a .400 average. On defense, he committed just three errors in 220 total plays fielded this season (.986). Mike Duursma had a tremendous season on both sides of the ball as well. Duursma hit .291 for the regular season, as he led the team with a .412 (28-for-68) average over the last 21 games, including seven doubles, three triples and a home run. His 68 assists were a team-high, while he committed just six errors in 111 fielded plays (.946). Nate Sickler closed a solid college career after leading the Boilermakers in doubles, triples and home runs for a second consecutive season. His 32 career home runs are the most of any active player. He hit a career-high .360 for his senior season while starting in all 53 games that he played in. The only game he missed all year was a home game against Xavier on April 25. He moved up the charts in several offensive categories this season, now sixth in career at-bats (706), third in runs scored (164), sixth in hits (222) and second in doubles (59). His 148 career-RBI are fourth-best all-time. Dave Gassner, who was a prime candidate for Big Ten pitcher of the year, was also a first-team selection. Gassner was 5-2 in his seven conference starts. Seven of those were complete games. The other game was a 5.1 inning start at Northwestern, a game which he won. He struck out 54 batters in those seven games, walking just nine. His 2.49 ERA was lowest in the Big Ten in conference games, while his 54 strikeouts were also a conference best. He finished with 69 strikeouts overall. Ben Quick was named second team All Big Ten after leading all Boilermaker pitchers with seven wins overall. Quick also finished the regular season with 76 strikeouts, currently the third-highest single-season total in school history. He finished the season with four complete-game victories, including an opening day masterpiece over the Rice Owls. In conference play, Quick was also 5-2 in seven starts with 31 strikeouts and 11 walks. He pitched the most innings (93.2) of any Boilermaker pitcher during the regular season.
David Harrell was named third team All Big Ten at the catcher position. Harrell was arguably Purdue's top newcomer this season, as he broke into the starting lineup after the fifth game of the season and stayed there. He started 11 games at the DH spot before moving behind the dish to start 38 games. Purdue was 25-8 with Harrell batting in the cleanup spot this season. He was named Big Ten co-player of the week for his efforts in a weekend series against Penn State, which included a game-winning three-run home run to lift the Boilermakers to a 5-3 win over the Nittany Lions and a double to cap a 5-4 comeback victory in the series finale.
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