JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- Kyle Johnson and Kyle Wood each recorded a multi-homer game as Purdue baseball scored 27 runs on the day, but a walk-off home run in the nightcap made the Boilermakers settle for a doubleheader split with East Tennessee State on Saturday.
Purdue (2-7) won game one 19-6 and lost the nightcap 9-8 while overcoming early deficits of 4-1 and 3-0, scoring seven unanswered run in both games. The Boilermakers ` 19 runs in game one were three more than they had scored in their first seven games this season and the most for the program since a 23-run outburst in the rubber game of the series with Northern Illinois a year ago.
Wood homered three times on the day, becoming the first Boilermaker since Cameron Perkins in February 2011 to go deep in both ends of a doubleheader. Johnson connected for a grand slam during his four-hit effort in game one. He finished with a career-high six RBI and 10 total bases, the most total bases by a Boilermaker since Sean McHugh had 12 in a multi-homer game at Alexander Field in May 2013.
Aaron Maher's walk-off three-run homer in the nightcap punctuated a stretch in which ETSU (5-5) outscored Purdue 6-1 over the final three innings. The Boilermakers lost in walk-off fashion for the first time since May 2014 at Minnesota.
The Boilermakers had a chance to win both games thanks to strong relief work from Matt Frawley (7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 K) and Shane Bryant (5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 5 K). They combined for 13 innings of five-run ball, surrendering only eight hits and one walk while striking out 11. In a four-game series that was already going to be taxing on both teams' pitching staffs, the effective long relief allowed Purdue to overcome its starting pitchers both failing to make it through the second inning Saturday.
Johnson finished the day 6-for-11 with seven RBI and five runs scored. He joined Jack Picchiotti and Ted Snidanko as active Boilermakers with a collegiate grand slam. Nick Dalesandro had three hits, including a two-run double, in game one and has now hit safely in seven straight games. Leadoff man Cody Strong reached base safely seven times on the day.
Johnson and Wood each posted their first collegiate multi-homer games. After also going deep Friday, Johnson homered in consecutive games for the second time in his career and Wood did likewise for the third time as a Boilermaker. The 27 runs represent the most Purdue scored in one day since putting up 35 in a doubleheader sweep at Morehead State in February 2011, which was the twinbill that Perkins homered in both games.
Sunday series finale is set for 1 p.m.
Game One Recap: Purdue 19, ETSU 6
Six of the first batters to come to the plate for ETSU in the bottom of the second recorded a hit, opening up a 4-1 lead for the home team and chasing Dalesandro from the mound. But Purdue answered with a three-spot in the following frame. Dalesandro delivered a two-run double down the right field line to account for the team's first big hit of the day.
Frawley (1-0) retired seven of the first eight batters he faced and later 14 of the final 16 that came to the plate against him. He worked three 1-2-3 innings in his longest outing as a Boilermaker. It was the longest relief appearance by a Purdue pitcher since April 2013.
Purdue loaded the bases in four different innings, including three straight frames early in the game. Jacson McGowan drove a pitch into right center with the sacks packed and the score tied in the fourth inning. ETSU center fielder Jeremy Taylor made a nice diving catch to rob McGowan of a double, but it went for a two-run sacrifice fly after Picchiotti was able to score from second base on the play. Wood followed with the first of his two opposite-field homers to left center.
Each of the first seven Purdue hitters to come to the plate reached base safely in the seventh inning, punctuated by Johnson's grand slam that made it a six-run rally. The senior also homered to center field an inning later. Stephen Kalina recorded a pinch-hit RBI single in his first collegiate at-bat in the ninth inning.
Game Two Recap: ETSU 9, Purdue 8
Wood crushed a 3-0 pitch for a long home run with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, giving Purdue a two-run cushion again. But Tanner Schumacher (1-2) issued a leadoff walk and then gave up a single to begin the bottom of the frame. He got ETSU cleanup hitter Kevin Phillips to hit a ground ball to shortstop, but Phillips was called safe on a close play at first base as Purdue tried to turn a 6-4-3 double play. Maher came to the plate still representing the winning run and connected for the walk-off blast to right center.
An inning earlier, Harry Shipley made a heads up defensive play to tag out the potential tying run at third base to end the bottom of the eighth. With Purdue leading by a run and Dillon Cate pitcher serving as pinch runner at second base, Taylor chopped a pitch deep in the hole on the left side. Not only was Shipley able to keep the ball on the infield, but he also realized the runner had rounded third too aggressively and would be stuck in no-man's land. Shipley hustled to the bag and tagged the runner out before Cate could even attempt to dive back.
Bryant retired 14 of the first 17 batters he faced before surrendering a solo home run to Trey York in the seventh inning. He worked a pair of 1-2-3 innings and didn't give up a hit until the top of the sixth during that stretch.
Wood's two-run homer in the fourth inning helped jumpstart the offense and the Boilermakers took the lead on Picchiotti's two-run double an inning later. Strong scored from first base on the play thanks to an aggressive head-first slide into home plate. Johnson followed with an RBI double. Duncan McKinnon's first collegiate hit, a leadoff single up the middle, ignited the three-run rally.
A leadoff walk and RBI double for ETSU chased Bryant in the bottom of the eighth. A pinch-hit single a few moments later made it a one-run game for the first time since the fifth inning.
Purdue starter Gavin Downs allowed the first four ETSU batters of the game to reach safely via two hit batters, a single and a walk. But he minimized the damage in the first inning with back-to-back strikeouts following a sacrifice fly.