OMAHA, Neb. – Keenan Spence connected for a pair of home runs and robbed another defensively, duplicating the unique feat for the second time in 12 days, but Purdue Baseball's ninth-inning rally stalled out after bringing the tying run to the plate in an 8-6 loss to Indiana in Tuesday's opening game of the Big Ten Tournament Presented by IFS.ai.
Keenan Taylor and Spence both homered in the Boilermakers' four-run ninth inning, going deep for the second game in a row. In the process, Purdue (33-23) eclipsed team records for runs and home runs that had stood since the 1980s. The Boilermakers have hit 74 home runs and scored 455 runs this season. Entering the year, the team records were 73 homers (in 1987) and 454 runs (in 1986).
Purdue will take on No. 2 seed Nebraska on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET in the first elimination game of the tournament. Ohio State blitzed the Huskers 15-2 in a run-rule game Tuesday night.
Spence's leaping catch above the right field fence kept the game scoreless in the second inning. At the plate, he led off the top of eighth with a home run and connected for a three-run blast the following frame. In the Boilers' May 10 victory at Michigan, Spence preserved the shutout win with a leaping catch at the wall in the bottom of the fifth and hit home runs in the seventh and ninth innings.
Spence's catch Tuesday, which featured a 180-degree spin moments before leaping to reach above the fence, was featured as the No. 2 play in the #SCTop10 countdown of the 11 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter on ESPN. Two years ago in Purdue's Big Ten Tournament game vs. Iowa in Omaha, Troy Viola's diving catch on the tarp was No. 1 in the #SCTop10.
Indiana won the game with eight unanswered runs across the fifth and sixth innings. The Hoosiers (31-22-1) strung together seven hits while sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five times in the bottom of the sixth. Jasen Oliver drove in four of IU's eight runs from the 8-hole in the lineup, connecting for an opposite-field, three-run homer to give his team its first lead in the fifth inning and an RBI double the following frame as Indiana's six through nine hitters went double, single, double, single.
Jo Stevens followed Spence's homer in the top of the ninth with a base hit, bringing the tying run to the plate after Purdue trailed 8-2 entering the frame. But a 6-4-3 double play followed as IU regrouped and closed out the game.
Spence robbed Carter Mathison of a home run and Mathison made a highlight-reel catch of his own in center field, snaring a line drive off the bat of Thomas Green off the top of the grass for the first out of the top of the fourth. Purdue had runners on the corners at the time and while Jo Stevens scored on the play, the catch helped prevent a potential big inning.
Taylor and Stevens both had three hits Tuesday, combining for six of the Boilers' 13 hits in the process. But Purdue left 11 runners on base, standing the bases loaded in the second inning and running into an inning-ending out at home to end the top of the eighth.
The wind made things hazardous for the Indiana outfielders at times but Devin Taylor hung in there to make two run-saving catches when it looked like fly balls might drop with two outs and runners in motion.
Jordan Morales recorded his 250th collegiate strikeout as the opening out of a 1-2-3 inning against IU's 2-3-4 hitters in the bottom of the fourth. The lefty retired 10 of 11 batters from the final out of the first inning through the first out of the fifth but conceding a single and a base on balls in front of Oliver's home run.
Purdue and Nebraska have met just once before in the Big Ten Tournament, with the Huskers winning the opening round game in 2017 in Bloomington. The Boilermakers have not played NU in the state of Nebraska since an April 2019 series in Lincoln.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Couper Cornblum – 13-game on-base streak; 11-game hit streak in all games; 109 consecutive games started (since start of 2023)
• Luke Gaffney – 9-game on-base streak
Keenan Taylor and Spence both homered in the Boilermakers' four-run ninth inning, going deep for the second game in a row. In the process, Purdue (33-23) eclipsed team records for runs and home runs that had stood since the 1980s. The Boilermakers have hit 74 home runs and scored 455 runs this season. Entering the year, the team records were 73 homers (in 1987) and 454 runs (in 1986).
Purdue will take on No. 2 seed Nebraska on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET in the first elimination game of the tournament. Ohio State blitzed the Huskers 15-2 in a run-rule game Tuesday night.
Spence's leaping catch above the right field fence kept the game scoreless in the second inning. At the plate, he led off the top of eighth with a home run and connected for a three-run blast the following frame. In the Boilers' May 10 victory at Michigan, Spence preserved the shutout win with a leaping catch at the wall in the bottom of the fifth and hit home runs in the seventh and ninth innings.
Spence's catch Tuesday, which featured a 180-degree spin moments before leaping to reach above the fence, was featured as the No. 2 play in the #SCTop10 countdown of the 11 p.m. ET edition of SportsCenter on ESPN. Two years ago in Purdue's Big Ten Tournament game vs. Iowa in Omaha, Troy Viola's diving catch on the tarp was No. 1 in the #SCTop10.
Spence's three-run homer in the top of the ninth was the record-breaking blast as the Boilermakers' 74th long ball of the season. It also plated runs 453, 454 and 455. Spence has hit five home runs over the last seven games, giving him 13 on the season to surge into a tie with Connor Caskenette for the team lead. With Luke Gaffney at 12 homers, Purdue has three players with at least 12 for the first time in program history.Snagged that one 🕸️💎#NCAABaseball #SCTop10 x 🎥 @PurdueBaseball pic.twitter.com/zf6mkcnXne
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAABaseball) May 21, 2024
Indiana won the game with eight unanswered runs across the fifth and sixth innings. The Hoosiers (31-22-1) strung together seven hits while sending 10 men to the plate and scoring five times in the bottom of the sixth. Jasen Oliver drove in four of IU's eight runs from the 8-hole in the lineup, connecting for an opposite-field, three-run homer to give his team its first lead in the fifth inning and an RBI double the following frame as Indiana's six through nine hitters went double, single, double, single.
Jo Stevens followed Spence's homer in the top of the ninth with a base hit, bringing the tying run to the plate after Purdue trailed 8-2 entering the frame. But a 6-4-3 double play followed as IU regrouped and closed out the game.
Spence robbed Carter Mathison of a home run and Mathison made a highlight-reel catch of his own in center field, snaring a line drive off the bat of Thomas Green off the top of the grass for the first out of the top of the fourth. Purdue had runners on the corners at the time and while Jo Stevens scored on the play, the catch helped prevent a potential big inning.
Taylor and Stevens both had three hits Tuesday, combining for six of the Boilers' 13 hits in the process. But Purdue left 11 runners on base, standing the bases loaded in the second inning and running into an inning-ending out at home to end the top of the eighth.
The wind made things hazardous for the Indiana outfielders at times but Devin Taylor hung in there to make two run-saving catches when it looked like fly balls might drop with two outs and runners in motion.
Jordan Morales recorded his 250th collegiate strikeout as the opening out of a 1-2-3 inning against IU's 2-3-4 hitters in the bottom of the fourth. The lefty retired 10 of 11 batters from the final out of the first inning through the first out of the fifth but conceding a single and a base on balls in front of Oliver's home run.
Purdue and Nebraska have met just once before in the Big Ten Tournament, with the Huskers winning the opening round game in 2017 in Bloomington. The Boilermakers have not played NU in the state of Nebraska since an April 2019 series in Lincoln.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Couper Cornblum – 13-game on-base streak; 11-game hit streak in all games; 109 consecutive games started (since start of 2023)
• Luke Gaffney – 9-game on-base streak