WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Minnesota hit four home runs and scored multiple times in seven innings, using another offensive outburst to down Purdue baseball 18-8 Saturday at Alexander Field.
The Gophers (23-10, 7-1 B1G) won their seventh straight game, outscoring the opposition 87-36 during the surge. The Boilermakers (15-15, 4-4 B1G) have dropped five straight, surrendering 63 runs during the skid.
Micah Coffey, Terrin Vavra and Jordan Kozicky all hit three-run homers. Cole McDevitt connected for a two-run shot. Coffey and Vavra hit their long balls with two outs in each of the first two innings, helping Minnesota race out to an 11-1 lead through the top of the fourth.
Nick Dalesandro and Ben Nisle recorded multiple RBI for the second day in a row. Dalesandro delivered a two-run double in the fourth inning. Nisle came through with a sacrifice fly and two-out RBI single. Both players have five RBI in the series.
The Boilermakers sent eight men to the plate in their three-run bottom of the fourth to chase starter Patrick Fredrickson, who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of his win against Penn State at Alexander Field last Saturday. But the Gophers' bullpen was effective in long relief for the second day in a row. As the first man out of the `pen, Nick Lackney (2-2) faced 11 consecutive batters before giving up a hit. The lefty stranded a pair of runners in the fourth inning and pitched over a leadoff free pass each of the next two frames.
Harry Shipley singled and walked, extending his hit streak to eight consecutive games and reaching base safely at least twice for the 13th time in the last 14 games. Evan Kennedy's 1-out double in the second inning led to Purdue's first run. He took third when the right fielder misplayed the carom off the wall. Kennedy dislocated a finger when he slid into third. He popped the digit back into place and scored moments later on Nisle's sacrifice fly.
Cameron Williams and Matt Moore were the only Purdue pitchers to successfully post a zero Saturday. Williams retired Minnesota's 3-4-5 hitters in the seventh inning, pitching over a leadoff walk. Moore allowed the first two batters of the ninth to reach base safely, but stranded runners at second and third thanks in part to nice defensive plays by Evan Warden at third and Nick Evarts at second.
The Gophers' leadoff man scored in each of the other four innings in which he reached safely to begin the frame.
The series finale is slated for Sunday at noon ET.