Mike Kornacker worked a 1-2-3 first inning in his collegiate debut. Photo by Kyle Mazabob
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- Purdue baseball had the leadoff man aboard in each of the first innings without taking advantage, missed opportunities that cost the Boilermakers in a 6-2 loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Friday evening at the Kleberg Bank College Classic.
Five consecutive batters reached base safely for the Islanders (5-0) in the fifth inning and the four-run rally proved to be the difference in the game. Purdue (1-3) didn't score against A&M-Corpus Christi's ace pitcher Matt Danton (2-0) until Kyle Johnson singled home a pair of unearned with two outs in the eighth inning.
Danton struck out six and did not issue a walk while limiting the Boilers to seven singles over eight innings. He induced a pair of inning-ending ground ball double plays to erase base runners in the top of the first and top of the fourth. The senior started his season with a streak of 13 consecutive scoreless innings.
Freshmen Mike Kornacker and Evan Kennedy performed well in their first collegiate starts. Kornacker was only scheduled to pitch the first two innings as the starter to get his feet wet after dealing with a lingering injury during the preseason. The righthander opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first. But a swinging bunt single, a pair of stolen bases and an RBI hit allowed the Islanders to take a 1-0 lead against Kornacker in the second inning. The Chicagoland native attacked the strike zone early and often, recording 32 strikes among his 45 pitches.
Kennedy started at designated hitter and singled in his first two at-bats to go along with a leadoff walk in the ninth inning.
Brandon Krieg singled in his first at-bat to extend his reached base safely streak to 23 consecutive games dating back to last season.
Mike Lutz retired all five batters he faced over two innings of scoreless relief in his 56th career appearance as well as 2015 season debut. He induced a 6-4-3 double play from the first batter he faced.
Michael Vilardo made three quality catches in left field on a windy night in which the wind was gusting sharply towards the left field foul pole. He snared two line drives in foul territory along the side wall despite there being a very limited amount of foul territory at Whataburger Field. But his best catch of the night came at the wall in deep left field in the sixth inning, taking away a double from Frankie Salas. As the leadoff man, Vilardo also reached safely to begin the contest for the third time in four games this season.
The bottom of the lineup ignited A&M-Corpus Christi's four-run rally in the fifth inning. A bloop single and hit batter put two men aboard for the top of the lineup. Jordan Lee, Casey Thomas and Tyler Ware followed with three consecutive run-scoring hits against Gavin Downs.
Catcher Jack Picchiotti threw out a pair of base stealers, but a passed ball in the third inning helped the Islanders score their second run of the game. Consecutive singles from Lee and Thomas led to a run when Lee took second on the passed ball with Thomas at the plate.
Purdue pitchers only issued one walk Friday and have now handed out only eight bases on balls in 33 innings this season.
The Boilermakers take on first-time opponent Sam Houston State for doubleheader action Saturday at noon ET.
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