#Purdue highlights from tonight's 3-1 loss at Penn State. Kyle Wood doubled twice & has an XBH in 10 straight games. https://t.co/QAFoatM21Z
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) April 2, 2016
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Kyle Wood doubled twice to extend his extra-base hit streak to 10 straight games, but Penn State scored twice in the bottom of the eighth to break a tie score and defeat Purdue baseball 3-1 Friday evening.
The two teams will wrap up the three-game Big Ten series with a doubleheader Saturday at noon.
The Nittany Lions (13-12, 2-2 Big Ten) improved to 7-1 at home and won for the eighth time in their last 10 games overall. Tyler Kendall's one-out triple on a full-count pitch plated the go-ahead run in eighth inning. All three runners that scored for PSU reached via an extra-base hit.
Wood doubled in his first two at-bats and finished the night 3-for-3 with a walk. He scored the Boilermakers' lone run of the night on a squeeze bunt by Alec Olund in the top of the fourth. Wood has matched the longest hitting streak of his Purdue career, recording 11 extra-base hits and a 1.077 slugging percentage over the last 10 games. Eighteen of his 26 hits this season have gone for extra bases.
Kyle Johnson and Cody Strong both extended their reached base safely streaks to 11 games apiece.
Even though Wood's leadoff single in the top of the sixth was the Boilermakers' last hit of the game, they still had two excellent opportunities to take the lead over the next two innings after PSU pitchers issued five walks.
With two on, one out and Strong at the plate in the top of the seventh, Purdue (4-18, 0-4 Big Ten) put both runners in motion. Reliever Dakota Forstyth's wild pitch came up well short of home plate and skipped to the backstop. Olund was given the green light to try and score. He was cut down easily at home after PSU catcher Nick Graham quickly corralled the wild pitch and threw to Forsyth covering the plate. Strong drew a walk two pitches later and the Boilermakers stranded the go-ahead run at third when shortstop Conlin Hughes made a nice play on a chopper near the second base bag off the bat of pinch hitter Jack Picchiotti.
Big Ten saves leader Jack Anderson closed out the win by retiring all four batters he faced via an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play and three strikeouts. After consecutive one-out walks to Wood and Nick Dalesandro in the eighth inning, PSU brought in Anderson (1-1) to replace Forsyth. Left-handed hitting Stephen Kalina was sent up to pinch hit against the right-handed sidearmer. Kalina fouled off six pitches during a lengthy eight-pitch at-bat, but Anderson won the battle with the ground ball double play to shortstop.
A pair of inning-ending double plays had helped Gavin Downs (0-2) put up four consecutive zeros after taking over with runners on the corners and one out in the fourth inning. But a leadoff double from Jim Haley set the stage for PSU's two-run rally eight in bottom of the eighth. With one out, the infield drawn in and the go-ahead run at third, Kendall hit a full-count pitch to the wall in left center. Following a pitching change, Jordan Bowersox also recorded his third hit of the night to drive in an insurance run.
There were a combined 17 runners left on the base in the game. Mike Lutz recorded both of his strikeouts key spots, stranding runners at second and third in both the second and third innings thanks to frame-ending Ks. Lutz's streak of 11 consecutive scoreless innings against Penn State over his career ended when the home team got on the board in the bottom of the third.
The Boilermakers are 2-2 in doubleheader action this year, playing in twinbills in Johnson City, Tennessee, and Lawrence, Kansas, earlier this season. Purdue and Penn State will be playing a doubleheader against each other for the fourth time in the last six years.