SUGAR LAND, Texas – Paul Toetz connected for a pair of long home runs and Khal Stephen needed only 67 pitches to cruise through five innings of two-hit ball, leading Purdue baseball to a decisive 12-1 season-opening win vs. Holy Cross on Friday at Constellation Field.
The Boilermakers scored in six of their eight innings at the plate while improving to 4-0 in season openers under head coach Greg Goff. Purdue has also won six of its last seven on Opening Day.
Jake Parr barreled up for an RBI triple off the batter's eye in center field during the Boilermakers' four-run second inning. Couper Cornblum delivered a two-out, two-run single to punctuate the rally.
Toetz went deep in the first and eighth innings, connecting for an opposite-field shot to right field and a towering blast off the H-E-B sign in left field. He went deep on the first pitch he saw this season, connecting for a home run to right field in the first inning of the season opener in Sugar Land for the second year in a row. The infielder now has four career homers in five games at Constellation Field. Friday, he joined CJ Valdez as active Boilermakers with a multi-homer game.
Stephen worked a trio of 1-2-3 innings and did not issue a free pass over five shutout innings in his first collegiate start. Both hits he gave up came with two outs, meaning he pitched from the stretch just twice while facing 17 batters total.
Kyle Iwinski and Carter Doorn both worked two innings of relief to close out the win. Holy Cross broke up the shutout in the ninth inning.
Jake Stadler connected for his first collegiate home run with a blast to right field to lead off the fourth inning. Jake Jarvis reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances, with his leadoff walks in the second and seventh innings both leading to multiple-run frames.
After Toetz went deep to open the bottom of the eighth, Keenan Taylor, Weston Gingerich and Camden Melvin all followed with their first hits as Boilermakers. Taylor doubled off the wall in left field, Gingerich followed with a hustle double to center and Melvin ripped an RBI single through the right side.
Purdue cutdown a pair of base runners in the sixth inning. With a runner on third and one out, Cam Thompson turned a grounder to first base into an out at the plate as Stadler and third baseman Jo Stevens executed a rundown flawlessly. After a base hit followed, Stadler picked off the runner at first on the back side of the play on a pitch in the dirt.
The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET.
The Boilermakers scored in six of their eight innings at the plate while improving to 4-0 in season openers under head coach Greg Goff. Purdue has also won six of its last seven on Opening Day.
Jake Parr barreled up for an RBI triple off the batter's eye in center field during the Boilermakers' four-run second inning. Couper Cornblum delivered a two-out, two-run single to punctuate the rally.
Toetz went deep in the first and eighth innings, connecting for an opposite-field shot to right field and a towering blast off the H-E-B sign in left field. He went deep on the first pitch he saw this season, connecting for a home run to right field in the first inning of the season opener in Sugar Land for the second year in a row. The infielder now has four career homers in five games at Constellation Field. Friday, he joined CJ Valdez as active Boilermakers with a multi-homer game.
Stephen worked a trio of 1-2-3 innings and did not issue a free pass over five shutout innings in his first collegiate start. Both hits he gave up came with two outs, meaning he pitched from the stretch just twice while facing 17 batters total.
Kyle Iwinski and Carter Doorn both worked two innings of relief to close out the win. Holy Cross broke up the shutout in the ninth inning.
Jake Stadler connected for his first collegiate home run with a blast to right field to lead off the fourth inning. Jake Jarvis reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances, with his leadoff walks in the second and seventh innings both leading to multiple-run frames.
After Toetz went deep to open the bottom of the eighth, Keenan Taylor, Weston Gingerich and Camden Melvin all followed with their first hits as Boilermakers. Taylor doubled off the wall in left field, Gingerich followed with a hustle double to center and Melvin ripped an RBI single through the right side.
Purdue cutdown a pair of base runners in the sixth inning. With a runner on third and one out, Cam Thompson turned a grounder to first base into an out at the plate as Stadler and third baseman Jo Stevens executed a rundown flawlessly. After a base hit followed, Stadler picked off the runner at first on the back side of the play on a pitch in the dirt.
The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET.