Box Score: PDF / HTML /// Series Stats
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - The bullpen surrendered just one run over 6 2/3 innings of three-hit relief and Purdue baseball scored six times in the eighth inning to take the series finale at Cal State Northridge 9-3 Monday.
Nick Dalesandro posted his first collegiate four-hit game, finishing the four-game series 9-for-17 with four doubles and four RBI. He has hit safely in seven consecutive games and reached base safely in 10 straight. Skyler Hunter drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and finished the day 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. The freshman had seven hits in the series.
Purdue pitchers posted six consecutive zeros after CSUN's Albee Weiss connected for a two-run homer in the first inning. Ross Learnard, Kyle Schweiger and Cameron Williams teamed up to retire 13 of the 16 batters they faced from third through seventh innings. Schweiger (1-0) needed only seven pitches to record three outs, striking out a pair. He earned his first win as a Boilermaker.
The first nine Purdue hitters of the eighth inning put together a productive plate appearance as the Boilermakers (6-8) matched their biggest rally of the season. Evan Kennedy drew a bases-loaded walk, Hunter singled in a run and Bonner hit a fly ball to the warning track in left field for a sac fly. After Evan Warden was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game and 12th time this year to load the bases again, Alec Olund delivered a three-run double to the wall in left center.
Coach @Waz4412 says efficiency of the #Purdue pitching staff & the competitiveness of Skyler Hunter were key today. https://t.co/Tbi7sxD8EG
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) March 13, 2017
Purdue scored twice with two outs in the second inning to tie the game after the home run had given CSUN (10-7) an early lead. Hunter and Bonner recorded consecutive doubles for the second day in a row. Bonner took third when the left fielder misplayed the ball and was able to score when a wild pitch caromed away up the first base line.
Jack Dellinger made his first collegiate start on the mound for Purdue. He worked a 1-2-3 second inning to keep the game tied and later retired CSUN's No. 3 hitter after walking the first two batters of the bottom of the third. Learnard struck out CSUN's No. 4 and 6 hitters to escape a bases-loaded jam later in the frame. He caught Riley Conlan looking with a full-count slider.
Learnard surrendered a leadoff single in fourth inning, but picked the runner off at first. He and Schweiger teamed up for a 1-2-3 fifth, followed by Schweiger and Williams doing the same in the sixth. Williams started all four batters he faced in the seventh inning with an 0-2 count. After Nick Wojtysiak chipped in a pair of strikeouts over the final two frames, Purdue's four relievers combined for nine strikeouts vs. just one walk in 6 2/3 innings. The walk was an intentional pass in the third inning.
Leadoff man Harry Shipley reached base safely three times Monday and 11 times in the series. Kennedy walked three times Monday. The Boilermakers recorded 13 doubles in the series, including 10 over the final two games.
Purdue continues its spring break trip Thursday when it opens a four-game series at first-time opponent Santa Clara. First pitch in the South Bay is slated for 9 p.m. ET.