WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- After catching 10 innings of shutout baseball, Nick Dalesandro delivered a walk-off hit in the bottom half of the first extra frame to propel Purdue baseball to a 1-0 victory vs. Cal State Northridge on Friday evening at Alexander Field.
The Boilermakers (9-43) shut out CSUN (31-19) for the second night in a row and have now pitched 21 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to the seventh inning of Tuesday's loss to IPFW.
Matt Frawley struck out a career-high eight over 8 1/3 innings of two-hit ball, his longest outing as a Boilermaker. Tanner Andrews (2-6) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to keep the game tied. The big out of the inning came at the plate as Andrews flipped to Dalesandro to cut down the Matadors' leadoff man Fred Smith trying to score on a squeeze bunt.
Dalesandro singled to right field with an 0-2 count and two aboard in the 10th inning, plating Kyle Johnson from second base. Dalesandro joined Alec Olund and Kyle Wood as active Boilermakers with a walk-off hit. The victory was Purdue's second of the season in walk-off fashion, but first at Alexander Field since April 2014. Both of the team's one-run wins this season have been via extra-inning walk-offs. The Boilermakers also went 10 innings last Friday with Minnesota, which clinched the Big Ten title on this night.
.@NickDeli12 & Matt @frawl_dog55 discuss tonight's 1-0 walk-off victory in 10 innings vs CSUN. #BoilerUp https://t.co/sPZyfYKIJH
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 21, 2016
Purdue posted its first 1-0 win since March 2011 at Lipscomb and its first set of consecutive shutout victories since March 2008. It was the Boilermakers' first game to go to extra innings scoreless since April 2007 at Notre Dame.
CSUN starter Angel Rodriguez matched Frawley for much of the night, surrendering just two hits over six-plus scoreless innings. In the first eight innings of the game, only five of the combined 51 batters to come to the plate had reached base safely. For the night, only six CSUN batters and seven Purdue batters reached base safely. Frawley worked six 1-2-3 innings and Rodriguez put together five.
The only hit that Frawley allowed that left the infield came against the final batter he faced. After a one-out walk to Smith, Yusuke Akitoshi singled to right field to give the Matadors runners on the corners. The visitors held the first conference of the inning, huddling their base runners, batter and coaches in front of their dugout. After Branden Berry finally stepped into the batter's box, Purdue pitching coach Tristan McIntyre went to the mound and made the call to the bullpen for Andrews.
Berry got the squeeze down on the first pitch he saw from Andrews, bunting the ball up the first base line. Andrews was the only Purdue player that had a chance to get the runner at the plate and made a lunging flip on target to Dalesandro. Smith slid into the third base side of the plate as Dalesandro applied the tag and the Boilermakers got the call on a bang-bang play.
Johnson led off the bottom of the 10th with an infield single. Wood showed bunt but pulled the bat back as a wild pitch allowed Johnson to take second. The Matadors then opted to intentionally walk Wood. Pinch hitter Duncan McKinnon also showed bunt, but swung away with a 1-0 count and flew out to center field. Dalesandro won the game moments later with the single to right field.
.@PurdueBaseball was a walk-off winner tonight in 10 innings. #BoilerUp https://t.co/oPTmcURAvM
-- Purdue Video (@purduevideo) May 21, 2016
Frawley retired 11 consecutive batters from the first through fifth innings before giving up his first hit of the night, an infield single to second base. He then retired 12 straight through the first out of the top of the ninth.
The Boilermakers' five hits came from five different players, including leadoff singles from Brett Carlson, Daniel Sander, Olund and Johnson. But Carlson had been the only Purdue player to reach second base before Johnson did so in the 10th inning.
The 21 consecutive scoreless innings represents the Boilermakers most since they put up 25 straight zeros over three games from March 16 to 22. Meanwhile, April 2014 marked the last time Purdue starting pitchers were both still on the mound in the ninth inning in consecutive games, a feat that Gavin Downs and Frawley have accomplished the last two nights.
The four-game series continues Saturday at 2 p.m.