Box Score | Tournament Stats | Weekend Gallery 
PHOENIX -- Five consecutive batters reached base safely for CSU Bakersfield in both the ninth and 11th innings as the Roadrunners scored six unanswered runs to overcome a four-run deficit and defeat Purdue baseball, 6-4, Saturday morning on the final day of the Phoenix Muni Classic.
Behind seven shutout innings from Matt Frawley, the Boilermakers (4-7) carried a 4-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth. But Purdue did not record the first out of the inning until CSUB (6-6) had already tied the game thanks to five consecutive hits. Friday afternoon, the Roadrunners scored seven unanswered runs over the final four innings to defeat Arizona State, 7-4. They finished the weekend 3-1 after defeating each of the other three teams in the tournament.
The Boilermakers went 1-3 in their first trip to the Valley of the Sun after holding on for a 5-3 win against Gonzaga Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader.
Alex Lyons (0-1) retired both batters he faced in the ninth inning after entering the game with the go-ahead run on third base and no outs. Following a pop fly to short left field, the inning came to an end on a strike-`em-out, tag-`em-out double play when CSUB inexplicably tried to execute a suicide squeeze bunt with one out and an 0-2 count on the hitter. Two batters earlier, Ryan Grotjohn tied the game with a two-run triple to left center.
But Lyons was unable to record the third out of the 11th inning. Jeff Evak made a diving effort to catch a sinking humpback line drive off the bat of Grotjohn, but was unable to come up with it. Kris Cayton followed with an RBI double to right center in what was his first at-bat of the game. A pinch hit RBI single for Soloman Williams followed.
Frawley surrendered only three singles and one walk over seven innings, striking out five and putting together the finest outing of the young season by a Purdue pitcher. He worked three 1-2-3 innings and retired 15 of 16 batters from the second through seventh innings. His strikeout and innings pitched totals were career highs as a Boilermaker.
In the B4, @csubathletics unable to tag runner at plate on bunt @PurdueBaseball 1-0 #PHXMuni pic.twitter.com/UacU6EorDx
-- Phoenix Area Sports (@PhxAreaSports) February 28, 2015
Cody Strong delivered a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning to extend Purdue's lead to 4-0 and chase CSUB starter Nick Rogowski, who struck out eight over 6 2/3 innings. Rogowski retired nine batters in a row after the Boilers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on a squeeze bunt by Brett Carlson through the leadoff man of the bottom of the seventh. But a double into the right field corner from Jack Picchiotti followed by consecutive walks to Evak and Harry Shipley loaded the bases. Michael Vilardo's fielder's choice drove in a run and Strong followed with the two-run single up the middle.
Garrett Nimmo (1-1) did not issue a walk over 4 1/3 innings of four-hit relief to earn the victory. He retired Purdue's final five batters of the game.
Picchiotti made three strong throws defensively from behind the plate. Bakersfield had runners on the corners with two outs in the first inning when Picchiotti picked off the runner at third base as the runner at first took off for second. In the top of the seventh, he prevented the leadoff man from reaching base safely on a dropped strike three by throwing over the top of the runner from a tough angle between the on-deck circle and home plate. Moments later, the junior erased a leadoff single by cutting down a pinch runner trying to steal second. The Roadrunners entered the day a perfect 17-of-17 on stolen base attempts this year.
Gavin Downs worked a 1-2-3 inning against CSUB's 7-8-9 hitters in the top of the eighth, but gave up three straight singles to the top of the lineup an inning later. Joe Eichmann surrendered a two-run hit to both batters he faced as the Roadrunners completed their game-tying rally.
Dating back to St. Patrick's Day of last season, 10 of Purdue's last 47 games (21 percent) have gone to extra innings. The Boilermakers are 4-6 in those extra-inning affairs.
Purdue returns to action Friday when it opens a series at Oklahoma, another first-time opponent. The first pitch Friday in Norman is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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