IOWA CITY, Iowa - Nick Dalesandro and Jacson McGowan delivered consecutive run-scoring extra-base hits in the eighth inning on the first two pitches after a 75-minute rain delay, lifting Purdue baseball to a 2-0 win at Iowa on Friday in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
The Boilermakers (12-8, 1-0 B1G) won their seventh consecutive game and improved to 5-1 on Fridays this season. Tanner Andrews worked six scoreless innings and has now led Purdue to three shutout wins over his first six starts. He has worked 13 consecutive scoreless innings after pitching 7 2/3 shutout frames at Santa Clara on St. Patrick's Day.
The Boilermakers won their Big Ten opener for the fourth time in the last six years and dealt the Hawkeyes (11-9, 0-1 B1G) their first home loss of the season.
Dalesandro tripled to right center and McGowan also drove a ball into the right-center gap for an RBI double. Dalesandro has now reached base safely in 16 consecutive games. McGowan has recorded nine RBI during Purdue's win streak.
#Purdue won its 7th straight today, taking the B1G opener at Iowa 2-0. Here's highlights from back half of the win. https://t.co/e8tdHAm6JZ
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) March 25, 2017
The second half of the game was played in a steady rain until the umpires opted to stop the game with a 1-0 count on Dalesandro in the top of the eighth. Mike Madej had drawn his second walk of the day moments earlier and was on first base when action resumed. Iowa sent Drake Robison (1-2) back to the mound, but he didn't have an opportunity to get back in the flow of the game after Dalesandro and McGowan attacked the first two pitches he threw in his second stint on the hill.
Dalesandro cut down three base runners as Purdue's catcher. He threw out two base stealers at second base. But the biggest out of the game came at the plate in the fifth inning. Robert Neustrom tried to score from third base when a pitch in the dirt caromed away from Dalesandro up the first base line. He pounced on the ball and fired to Andrews covering the plate for the final out of the inning.
Cameron Williams retired six of the seven batters he faced over two scoreless innings, striking out a pair en route to earning his first save as a Boilermaker.
Andrews did not have a true 1-2-3 inning but he made some timely pitches to escape numerous jams. He induced nine ground ball outs on a day in which the wind was blowing out to right field for the first half of the game. The Hawkeyes stranded eight runners on base while Andrews was on the hill and finished the day 1-for-15 with runners on base and 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Andrews was able to pitch over a one-out triple in the fourth inning to keep the game scoreless. Purdue brought the infield in with Iowa's nine-hole hitter up and Evan Warden made the play at second base to hold the runner at third. Andrews then helped himself by fielding a sharp comebacker off the bat of Ben Norman for the final out of the inning.
.@NickDeli12 drove in the go-ahead run in the 8th inning & erased 3 base runners. He discusses the 2-0 win at Iowa. https://t.co/6FLbQA1D21
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) March 25, 2017
Seven different Boilermakers recorded a hit in the win. Milo Beam, Dalesandro and Madej all reached base safely twice. Warden doubled to lead off the fifth inning, but was cut down at the plate on a failed squeeze bunt.
Skyler Hunter singled up the middle in his first at-bat to extend his hitting streak to 10 straight games. He came to the plate with two on and one out two innings later, hitting another hot shot back through the box. But this time the sharp comebacker hit the foot of Iowa starter Nick Gallagher. It caromed directly to first base for an easy out.
Dating back to the final weekend of the 2016 season, Andrews has now contributed to a shutout win in five of his last eight appearances. He's pitched 27 2/3 of the 46 innings (60 percent) played in those five victories.
The series continues Saturday at 3 p.m. ET. One more win this weekend would give Purdue its first series win in Iowa City since 2008.