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KOKOMO, Ind. -- In a game that featured a combined 26 hits and 24 runners left on base, it was the five runners Purdue baseball stranded over the final three innings that burned the Boilermakers in a 6-4 series-opening loss to Ohio on Friday evening at Kokomo Municipal Stadium.
Purdue (3-11) had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but the Bobcats (8-9) made a pair of nice running catches in foul territory to record the final two outs and finish off the victory. Right fielder Spencer Ibarra in particular made three impressive catches in right field over the course of the night.
Up 4-3 entering the seventh inning, Ohio tacked on insurance runs via RBI doubles in both the top of the seventh and ninth. Those tallies proved to be the difference in the game.
Kyle Wood went 3-for-4 with a double and reached base safely four times as one of four Boilermakers with multiple hits. Nate Squires had three hits and three RBI for the Bobcats from the eight hole. The four through eight spots in the Ohio lineup were a combined 10-for-21 with five walks and all six runs scored.
Nick Dalesandro's 11-game hitting streak came to an end in 0-for-4 night. He was robbed of a base hit in the seventh inning on a diving catch by center fielder Manny De Jesus, a play that came with the bases loaded and one out. It went for a sacrifice fly and made it a one-run game again.
Wood doubled, walked and singled over the final four innings, helping Purdue put the potential tying run on base at some point in the sixth, seventh and ninth. First baseman Rudy Rott and Ibarra made the tricky plays on fly balls in foul territory off the bats of Dalesandro and Mike Kornacker, respectively, as Jake Roehn escaped the bases-loaded jam in the ninth. Roehn had walked Duncan McKinnon and surrendered the single to Wood to allow the tying run to move into scoring position.
Jack Picchiotti, Kyle Johnson and Jacson McGowan all had a double as part of two-hit efforts. Johnson would have scored from first base on McGowan's two-out double in the third inning, but the ball hopped over the fence in center field for a ground-rule double.
Ohio starter Jake Miller (2-3) surrendered 10 hits but did not issue a walk, needing fewer than 100 pitches to get through 6 1/3 innings. Tom Colletti retired the first five batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 eighth inning, to serve as the bridge from Miller to Roehn.
Purdue starter Tanner Andrews walked five of the 16 batters he faced and was unable to record the final out of the third inning in his shortest outing of the season. Shane Bryant (0-1) struck out Squires on three pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, but it was the only K he recorded over 3 2/3 innings of three-run relief. The leadoff man reached base safely in all four innings Bryant started, scoring twice.
Gavin Downs retired the first seven batters he faced, working Purdue's only 1-2-3 inning of the night in the top of the eighth, but a two-out walk turned into an insurance run in the ninth after Johnson came up empty on a diving attempt at a sinking line drive moments later.
The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m.