Box Score: PDF / HTML /// Series Stats
SAN MARCOS, Texas - Purdue baseball scored first for the third time in four games on the weekend, but four errors and four balks were among the numerous miscues that burned the Boilermakers in a 14-5 loss at Texas State on Sunday.
Purdue (2-2) settled for a split in the season-opening series. There were a combined 75 runs scored and 22 errors committed in the four-game set. The winning team scored at least nine runs in all four games. The Boilermakers scored eight of their 37 runs (21 percent) in the first inning.
Harry Shipley, Evan Warden and Bryce Bonner all reached base safely three times. Shipley posted his fifth collegiate three-hit game and stole a pair of bases. Warden delivered a pair of RBI singles and was hit by a pitch.
Bonner singled in his first at-bat and walked twice. The freshman had eight productive plate appearances in nine trips to the dish over the last two games. It took until the eighth inning Sunday before Texas State finally kept Bonner from doing something productive with his opportunity at the plate. The Katy, Texas, native also threw out two more base stealers Sunday.
Brian Ghiselli retired the first four batters he faced, but Purdue pitching was unable to record a true 1-2-3 frame the rest of the day. Only one of the four runs Ghiselli was charged with was earned. Logan Poisall and Warden collided while chasing an infield pop up with two outs in the third inning. It dropped safely and led to a pair of runs scoring, giving the Bobcats their first lead at 4-2.
The Boilermakers tied the game up on consecutive two-out singles by Skyler Hunter and Warden the following frame, but scored just one run the rest of the game. Meanwhile, the home team scored 10 times over that same span to blow it open.
Freshman pitchers Jack Dellinger and Hunter Wolfe both made their collegiate debuts Sunday. They were both charged with a pair of balks. A dropped fly ball in center field extended the sixth inning and Texas State capitalized with a five-spot. No. 3 and 4 hitters Ryan Newman and Theodore Hoffman connected for consecutive home runs with two outs in the frame.
Mike Madej made the top defensive play of the day in the eighth inning when he lunged over the top rail of the first base dugout to snare a pop up before it dropped for a foul ball into the dugout.
Bonner, Dellinger, Hunter, Madej, Poisall, Warden and Wolfe were among the 14 newcomers to make their Purdue debuts this weekend. Hunter was the only Boilermaker to hit safely in all four games of the series, finishing the weekend with a team-high seven hits. However, he was also charged with four errors in center field.
Purdue performed well with its situational hitting, recording five sacrifice flies and four sac bunts over the course of the weekend. As expected, the Boilermakers were aggressive on the base paths. But there is risk associated with aggressiveness. Purdue had three runners picked off in the series and had four base stealers cut down Sunday.
The Boilermakers also enjoyed some relative success with their pitchers attacking the strike zone. Purdue recorded 33 strikeouts vs. 22 free passes (17 walks, 5 HBP) over 34 2/3 innings pitched. Meanwhile, Texas State only struck out 24 batters while issuing the Boilermakers 25 free passes (17 walks, 8 HBP) over 36 innings.
The Boilermakers take on another Sun Belt Conference team next weekend when they travel to Little Rock for a three-game series. It will be Purdue's first games in Arkansas since March 1967. Friday's series opener is slated for 4 p.m. ET.