May 5, 2012
Boxscores: Game 1 | Game 2 >>> Game Day Central
LOS ANGELES -- No. 11 Purdue baseball managed to score only three runs over 18 innings on the day, dropping both games of a doubleheader at No. 14 UCLA Saturday afternoon, 5-1 and 3-2.The Boilermakers (34-9) suffered their first series loss of the season and have now dropped three consecutive games for the first time since the 2011 spring break trip. Purdue was swept in a doubleheader for the second time this year, falling to 7-5 in twinbill action overall this year.
UCLA game one starting pitcher Adam Plutko (6-3) retired the first 16 batters of the game in order and kept the Boilers off the scoreboard until the ninth inning. David Miller broke up the perfect game bid with a one-out single in the sixth inning. The senior connected for a solo home run in the second inning of game two, his third longball of the season and sixth career, and finished the day 4-for-6 with a stolen base and two runs scored.
Purdue led 2-0 entering the bottom of the third inning of game two. But UCLA scored a single run in three straight frames and the Boilers did not have a runner advance past second base after the third.
Blake Mascarello retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced over four innings of one-hit relief. The Bruins scored the go-ahead run on an RBI ground out in the fifth inning after the first two batters of the frame reached base safely against starter Lance Breedlove (6-4).
A solo home run from Trevor Brown and two-run double by Cody Keefer in consecutive innings provided UCLA with all the runs it would need in game one. Joe Haase (7-1) put together a quality start with six innings of three-run ball, but Purdue lost a game in which the senior started for the first time this year.
The Boilermakers had the leadoff man reach safely to begin an inning only twice on the day - Miller on a hit by pitch in the ninth inning of game one and Tyler Spillner on a single to begin game two. The Bruins had a batter reach safely to begin an inning just four times, but that runner scored on all four occasions.
Purdue out hit UCLA 10-4 in game two but the Bruins' first three hits all contributed to a run. Breedlove's three wild pitches, after he had thrown just one in 73 innings entering the day, also helped two UCLA runs score. A one-out walk, two wild pitched and a two-out single from Beau Amaral led to the Bruins' first run. The following frame, Jeff Gelalich led off with an opposite-field double down the left field line. After taking third on a fly ball to right field, he scored the tying run on another wild pitch.
Barrett Serrato recorded his 20th two-out RBI of the season in the third inning of game two, singling home Cameron Perkins after Perkins had doubled to left center. Eric Charles knocked in the Boilers' only run of the series opener when he beat the throw at first base to stay out of a game-ending 6-4-3 double play in the ninth inning.
UCLA played flawless defense on the day. Amaral made a pair of diving catches in center field to take away hits in game one. Shortstop Pat Valaika used a strong throw to prevent an infield single for Perkins in the same game. The Bruins' pitching staff did not issue a walk on the day either.
Breedlove retired the first seven batters he faced and didn't give up a hit until Amaral's run-scoring single in the third. Meanwhile, UCLA starter Nick Vander Tuig's first three innings were lengthy frames. But Breedlove labored after issuing the one-out walk in the third and was unable to record an out in the fifth inning, matching his shortest outing of the year. Vander Tuig (6-3) seemed to get stronger as the game progressed, retiring nine of the final 11 batters he faced.
Miller singled against UCLA closer Scott Griggs in the ninth inning, recording only the seventh hit of the year against the big right-hander, to put the potential tying run on base. But Griggs struck out Andrew Dixon and Spillner to end the game. All three outs in the ninth came on strikeouts.
Purdue reliever Pat Gannon pitched out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning of game one without UCLA adding to its lead. The left-hander pitched over a one-out error and a walk, getting Gelalich to pop out to center field and Brown to line out to right.
The series concludes Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.