EVANSTON, Ill. – Troy Wansing set the tone early by posting six consecutive zeros in the longest outing of his freshman campaign, leading Purdue baseball to a pivotal rubber game victory at Northwestern 7-2 Sunday.
Five different Boilermakers had a stolen base as Purdue (29-17, 9-10 B1G) officially set a team record for steals with 111 for the season. The previous mark (106) had stood since 2000. Curtis Washington Jr. accounted for the record-breaking steal when he swiped third in the first inning, scampering home when the NU catcher threw the ball away down the left field line. It was Washington's 30th stolen base, making him the first Boilermaker since 1991 and third overall to reach the benchmark.
Purdue maintained its hold on eighth place in the Big Ten standings and the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers will host a 40-win Maryland team for the final weekend of the regular season. With the Terrapins (16-5 B1G) moving into a tie for first place Sunday and Purdue remaining in the thick of the Big Ten Tournament chase, the Thursday to Saturday set at Alexander Field will be a spotlight series around the league.
Landon Weins backed up Wansing's clutch performance with 3 1/3 innings of effective relief, striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced, including the side in order in the ninth. Wansing limited the Wildcats (22-25, 8-13 B1G) to three singles after Northwestern hit four home runs in an 11-1 victory Saturday. The lefty pitched into the sixth inning for the first time this season while successfully navigating his way through the one through six portion of the NU lineup three times.
Evan Albrecht delivered a two-run double in the sixth inning as Purdue pushed its two-run lead to a 5-0 advantage. Jake Jarvis and Cam Thompson both scored from first base on doubles down the left field line with less than two outs.
Steve Ramirez delivered the first RBI double as part of a 2-for-3, two-RBI day from the catcher hitting in the 9-hole. He also executed a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning that led to another insurance run on a sac fly from Mike Bolton Jr.
CJ Valdez connected for a long home run to left field to open the ninth inning, hitting his fourth long ball of the season. All four have come since April 19, hitting three in road games in the Chicagoland area.
Washington made his second diving catch of the series in center field, delivering a key out in the eighth inning when NU scored both of its runs.
Troy Viola's 17-game on-base streak in Big Ten play came to an end Sunday, one day after Thompson's streak of the same length was also snapped.
The final weekend of the regular season is traditionally contested with a Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule. Thursday's series opener with Maryland is slated for a 6 p.m. ET first pitch but could be changed based on television coverage by the Big Ten Network. There's a chance BTN could televise all three games of the series. Thursday's game is also the final $3 midweek matchup at Alexander, featuring $3 deals on tickets, food and beer.
Five different Boilermakers had a stolen base as Purdue (29-17, 9-10 B1G) officially set a team record for steals with 111 for the season. The previous mark (106) had stood since 2000. Curtis Washington Jr. accounted for the record-breaking steal when he swiped third in the first inning, scampering home when the NU catcher threw the ball away down the left field line. It was Washington's 30th stolen base, making him the first Boilermaker since 1991 and third overall to reach the benchmark.
Purdue maintained its hold on eighth place in the Big Ten standings and the final spot in the Big Ten Tournament. The Boilermakers will host a 40-win Maryland team for the final weekend of the regular season. With the Terrapins (16-5 B1G) moving into a tie for first place Sunday and Purdue remaining in the thick of the Big Ten Tournament chase, the Thursday to Saturday set at Alexander Field will be a spotlight series around the league.
Landon Weins backed up Wansing's clutch performance with 3 1/3 innings of effective relief, striking out seven of the 13 batters he faced, including the side in order in the ninth. Wansing limited the Wildcats (22-25, 8-13 B1G) to three singles after Northwestern hit four home runs in an 11-1 victory Saturday. The lefty pitched into the sixth inning for the first time this season while successfully navigating his way through the one through six portion of the NU lineup three times.
Evan Albrecht delivered a two-run double in the sixth inning as Purdue pushed its two-run lead to a 5-0 advantage. Jake Jarvis and Cam Thompson both scored from first base on doubles down the left field line with less than two outs.
Steve Ramirez delivered the first RBI double as part of a 2-for-3, two-RBI day from the catcher hitting in the 9-hole. He also executed a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning that led to another insurance run on a sac fly from Mike Bolton Jr.
CJ Valdez connected for a long home run to left field to open the ninth inning, hitting his fourth long ball of the season. All four have come since April 19, hitting three in road games in the Chicagoland area.
Wansing struck out four and induced seven ground ball outs, including an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play in the first inning. The freshman retired 10 of the first 13 batters he faced.Freshman Troy Wansing is a bulldog on the mound for @PurdueBaseball, goes right after hitters with a 91-93 mph fastball, 81-82 power breaker, also saw a small handful of 79-80 mph changeups, went a career-high 5.2 IP today, allowed 3 H & 4 BB with 4 Ks including this one ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/jiXui3FP55
— Patrick Ebert (@PatrickEbert44) May 15, 2022
Washington made his second diving catch of the series in center field, delivering a key out in the eighth inning when NU scored both of its runs.
Troy Viola's 17-game on-base streak in Big Ten play came to an end Sunday, one day after Thompson's streak of the same length was also snapped.
The final weekend of the regular season is traditionally contested with a Thursday-Friday-Saturday schedule. Thursday's series opener with Maryland is slated for a 6 p.m. ET first pitch but could be changed based on television coverage by the Big Ten Network. There's a chance BTN could televise all three games of the series. Thursday's game is also the final $3 midweek matchup at Alexander, featuring $3 deals on tickets, food and beer.