MINNEAPOLIS – Purdue baseball overcame a pair of two-run deficits but Minnesota strung together four singles in the bottom of the ninth to rally for a 9-8 victory in the series finale Sunday.
The Boilermakers (14-25) registered 10 hits to post a double-figure total in all four games of the series. Yet they did not record a hit while scoring four times in the sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead. Five walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly helped Purdue post its seventh inning of the series with three or more runs.
Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Boilermakers had not surrendered a hit since Ronald Sweeny hit a three-run homer with one out in the fifth inning. Purdue erased an inning-opening single in the ninth when Jack Wassel was cut down between second and third on a comebacker. But three straight singles followed. Boston Merila tied the game with the third hit of the trio. With the bases loaded and the Gophers' leading hitter Zack Raabe at the plate, Brett Bateman scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
Despite overcoming deficits of 2-0 and 6-4, the Boilermakers lost in walk-off fashion for the first time since March 1, 2020 vs. North Carolina, a neutral-site game that was also played in Minneapolis.
Tyler Powers drew leadoff walks and came around to score in the third and sixth innings. He also opened the top of the seventh with a double. The infielder finished the series with a remarkable .909 on-base percentage thanks to a 5-for-6 showing with five walks. Even though he did not bat Sunday, Ryan Howe (.714) also had an OBP over .700 for the series, reaching safely in 10 of his 14 plate appearances.
Zac Fascia's two-out, two-run double gave Purdue its first lead off the day in the fifth inning. Jake Parr singled in front of Fascia to keep the inning alive. Parr reached base safely in three consecutive frames in the middle innings. The first baseman started every game of a weekend for the first time as a Boilermaker and finished the series 6-for-15 with six RBI, hitting safely in all four games.
Ben Nisle singled twice and drove in a run with a sac fly, extending his hit and RBI streaks. He has knocked in a run in six consecutive games and hit safely in a career-high 11 straight, both streaks ranking as the longest on the team this season. With a 6-for-13 series that produced a .462/.600/.615 slash line, he kept his OPS for the season (1.039) above 1.000 with four games remaining.
Skyler Hunter had two hits and two RBI for the second day in a row, pushing his career hit total to 260. He'll make a run at third place (Daniel Underwood, 266) on the program's all-time hits list as he closes out his collegiate career with four games at Alexander next weekend.
Mike Bolton Jr. stole a base for the fifth consecutive game, remaining perfect on the season at 17-for-17. That total matches Stephen Talbott (from 2011) for the most stolen bases without being thrown out by any Boilermaker since 2001. Bolton has also set a Purdue single-season record for steals in Big Ten play.
Bolton (9) and Hunter (6) each scored a run in all four games of the series, accounting for 15 of the 46 runs scored by Purdue. The 46 runs were the Boilermakers' most in a four-game weekend since scoring 47 in a four-game sweep of Western Illinois at Lambert Field in March 2008.
Jackson Smeltz gave the home run to Sweeny as the first batter he faced in the fifth inning, but the lefty regrouped and did not give up another hit over 2 2/3 innings. Smeltz and Landon Weins teamed up for consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth.
While Purdue was unable to complete its first series sweep of any length in Minneapolis since 1947, the team did win three games in one trip to the Twin Cities for the first time since 2000. Sunday the Boilermakers had an opportunity to win on four consecutive days for the first time since March 1992.
Purdue and Minnesota will play twice more next weekend as part of a three-team pod at Alexander Field. Penn State also makes the trip to West Lafayette to complete the pod. The first game of the pod is Purdue vs. Penn State on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. It will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.
The Boilermakers (14-25) registered 10 hits to post a double-figure total in all four games of the series. Yet they did not record a hit while scoring four times in the sixth inning to take an 8-6 lead. Five walks, a hit batter and a sacrifice fly helped Purdue post its seventh inning of the series with three or more runs.
Entering the bottom of the ninth, the Boilermakers had not surrendered a hit since Ronald Sweeny hit a three-run homer with one out in the fifth inning. Purdue erased an inning-opening single in the ninth when Jack Wassel was cut down between second and third on a comebacker. But three straight singles followed. Boston Merila tied the game with the third hit of the trio. With the bases loaded and the Gophers' leading hitter Zack Raabe at the plate, Brett Bateman scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch.
Despite overcoming deficits of 2-0 and 6-4, the Boilermakers lost in walk-off fashion for the first time since March 1, 2020 vs. North Carolina, a neutral-site game that was also played in Minneapolis.
Tyler Powers drew leadoff walks and came around to score in the third and sixth innings. He also opened the top of the seventh with a double. The infielder finished the series with a remarkable .909 on-base percentage thanks to a 5-for-6 showing with five walks. Even though he did not bat Sunday, Ryan Howe (.714) also had an OBP over .700 for the series, reaching safely in 10 of his 14 plate appearances.
Zac Fascia's two-out, two-run double gave Purdue its first lead off the day in the fifth inning. Jake Parr singled in front of Fascia to keep the inning alive. Parr reached base safely in three consecutive frames in the middle innings. The first baseman started every game of a weekend for the first time as a Boilermaker and finished the series 6-for-15 with six RBI, hitting safely in all four games.
Ben Nisle singled twice and drove in a run with a sac fly, extending his hit and RBI streaks. He has knocked in a run in six consecutive games and hit safely in a career-high 11 straight, both streaks ranking as the longest on the team this season. With a 6-for-13 series that produced a .462/.600/.615 slash line, he kept his OPS for the season (1.039) above 1.000 with four games remaining.
Skyler Hunter had two hits and two RBI for the second day in a row, pushing his career hit total to 260. He'll make a run at third place (Daniel Underwood, 266) on the program's all-time hits list as he closes out his collegiate career with four games at Alexander next weekend.
Mike Bolton Jr. stole a base for the fifth consecutive game, remaining perfect on the season at 17-for-17. That total matches Stephen Talbott (from 2011) for the most stolen bases without being thrown out by any Boilermaker since 2001. Bolton has also set a Purdue single-season record for steals in Big Ten play.
Bolton (9) and Hunter (6) each scored a run in all four games of the series, accounting for 15 of the 46 runs scored by Purdue. The 46 runs were the Boilermakers' most in a four-game weekend since scoring 47 in a four-game sweep of Western Illinois at Lambert Field in March 2008.
Jackson Smeltz gave the home run to Sweeny as the first batter he faced in the fifth inning, but the lefty regrouped and did not give up another hit over 2 2/3 innings. Smeltz and Landon Weins teamed up for consecutive 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth.
While Purdue was unable to complete its first series sweep of any length in Minneapolis since 1947, the team did win three games in one trip to the Twin Cities for the first time since 2000. Sunday the Boilermakers had an opportunity to win on four consecutive days for the first time since March 1992.
Purdue and Minnesota will play twice more next weekend as part of a three-team pod at Alexander Field. Penn State also makes the trip to West Lafayette to complete the pod. The first game of the pod is Purdue vs. Penn State on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. It will be televised live by the Big Ten Network.