WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Down by five runs entering the ninth inning, Purdue Baseball sent 10 men to the plate and put the winning run in scoring position while loading the bases with two outs before Samford could end the game on a deep fly ball to right field, taking the series finale 11-10 Sunday at Alexander Field.
The teams split the tightly contested four-game series, which featured a pair of one-run affairs and the Boilermakers (15-6) finishing with a 30-29 scoring edge. They lost on a Sunday for the first time this season but did mange to score 10 runs in a game for the fifth straight weekend to open the season, matching the 2012 Big Ten championship team's feat.
A five-run frame helped the Bulldogs (12-7) score six consecutive runs, blowing open a game that was tied through six innings. Purdue rallied back from deficits of 3-0, 5-3 and 11-6 but ultimately could not overcome stranding a season-high 15 runners on base – the team's most since an April 2022 home loss to Belmont, also on a Sunday. The Boilermakers stranded multiple runners in five different frames, including the bases loaded in the third, eighth and ninth innings.
Jo Stevens, Ty Gill and Camden Gasser all homered to right field as Purdue hit multiple home runs for the third game in a row and for fourth time in the five games this week. Gasser's three-run shot in the ninth inning, his first as a Boilermaker, powered the ninth-inning rally. Gill went deep for the second day in a row and Stevens hit his first home run at Alexander Field, an opposite-field, two-run blast into the bullpen.
Gasser was on base in five of his plate appearances, finishing the day 3-for-5 with a double, home run and walk. The shortstop posted a .556 on-base percentage in the series, extending his hit and on-base streaks. He continues to lead the Big Ten in OBP (.526). Gasser, Stevens and Connor Caskenette hit safely in all four games of the series.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Connor Caskenette – 25-game on-base streak at Home (since 3/31/23); 9-game on-base streak in all games
• Camden Gasser – 19-game on-base streak (every game he's played in 2024); 12-game hit streak
• Jo Stevens – 7-game hit streak
Caskenette's RBI double plated Luke Gaffney from first base as the key hit of the second half of the ninth-inning rally. It put the tying run on base with two outs. Consecutive walks followed to load the bases before Jake Holifield retired Camden Melvin on the deep fly ball to right field to finally end the game.
Stevens and Gill homered in the fifth inning to give Purdue its first lead at 6-5. The Boilermakers also scored three times in the bottom of the third but did so without hitting the ball out the infield, capitalizing on five consecutive free passes to the 2-6 portion of the lineup.
Samford scored six of its runs via a trio of timely two-out hits. Hayden Perry beat the shift with a two-run single through the vacated right side in the second inning. Josh Rodriguez connected for two-run triple off the glove of left fielder Mike Bolton Jr. in the fifth inning. Garrett Howe flipped an end of the bat special down the right field line for a two-run double to cap the scoring in the five-run seventh inning.
Couper Cornblum was kept off base at Alexander Field for the first time since April 15, 2023, ending a 21-game on-base streak at home. His 10-game on-base streak in all games was also snapped Sunday.
Purdue continues its 13-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts UIC for a $3 midweek matchup at 4 p.m. ET.
The teams split the tightly contested four-game series, which featured a pair of one-run affairs and the Boilermakers (15-6) finishing with a 30-29 scoring edge. They lost on a Sunday for the first time this season but did mange to score 10 runs in a game for the fifth straight weekend to open the season, matching the 2012 Big Ten championship team's feat.
A five-run frame helped the Bulldogs (12-7) score six consecutive runs, blowing open a game that was tied through six innings. Purdue rallied back from deficits of 3-0, 5-3 and 11-6 but ultimately could not overcome stranding a season-high 15 runners on base – the team's most since an April 2022 home loss to Belmont, also on a Sunday. The Boilermakers stranded multiple runners in five different frames, including the bases loaded in the third, eighth and ninth innings.
Jo Stevens, Ty Gill and Camden Gasser all homered to right field as Purdue hit multiple home runs for the third game in a row and for fourth time in the five games this week. Gasser's three-run shot in the ninth inning, his first as a Boilermaker, powered the ninth-inning rally. Gill went deep for the second day in a row and Stevens hit his first home run at Alexander Field, an opposite-field, two-run blast into the bullpen.
Gasser was on base in five of his plate appearances, finishing the day 3-for-5 with a double, home run and walk. The shortstop posted a .556 on-base percentage in the series, extending his hit and on-base streaks. He continues to lead the Big Ten in OBP (.526). Gasser, Stevens and Connor Caskenette hit safely in all four games of the series.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Connor Caskenette – 25-game on-base streak at Home (since 3/31/23); 9-game on-base streak in all games
• Camden Gasser – 19-game on-base streak (every game he's played in 2024); 12-game hit streak
• Jo Stevens – 7-game hit streak
Caskenette's RBI double plated Luke Gaffney from first base as the key hit of the second half of the ninth-inning rally. It put the tying run on base with two outs. Consecutive walks followed to load the bases before Jake Holifield retired Camden Melvin on the deep fly ball to right field to finally end the game.
Stevens and Gill homered in the fifth inning to give Purdue its first lead at 6-5. The Boilermakers also scored three times in the bottom of the third but did so without hitting the ball out the infield, capitalizing on five consecutive free passes to the 2-6 portion of the lineup.
Samford scored six of its runs via a trio of timely two-out hits. Hayden Perry beat the shift with a two-run single through the vacated right side in the second inning. Josh Rodriguez connected for two-run triple off the glove of left fielder Mike Bolton Jr. in the fifth inning. Garrett Howe flipped an end of the bat special down the right field line for a two-run double to cap the scoring in the five-run seventh inning.
Couper Cornblum was kept off base at Alexander Field for the first time since April 15, 2023, ending a 21-game on-base streak at home. His 10-game on-base streak in all games was also snapped Sunday.
Purdue continues its 13-game homestand Wednesday when it hosts UIC for a $3 midweek matchup at 4 p.m. ET.