WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Baseball scored in four consecutive innings over the first half of the game and racked up 11 strikeouts on the mound, defeating Valparaiso 6-3 Tuesday at Alexander Field for its 20th win of the season.
March 25 marks the earliest date on the calendar the Boilermakers (20-4) have ever reached the 20-win mark. The 2012 Big Ten championship team, which holds the program record with 45 victories, was also 20-4 after 24 games and won its 20th game on March 31 after the season opener was Feb. 18 (vs. Feb. 14 this year).
Purdue is the first Big Ten team to reach the 20-win mark this season. Tuesday, the Boilers won their eighth straight midweek game dating back to April 16, 2024.
Brandon Rogers hit his first home run at Alexander Field, an opposite-field shot inside the right field foul pole to lead off the fourth inning. The center fielder also hit a double down the right field line and scored twice.
Lefthanders Isaac Milburn (four) and Michael Vallone (five) teamed up for nine of the 11 strikeouts over a combined 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball. Milburn went four innings as the starter and Vallone registered the biggest outs of the game in the fifth inning.
Avery Cook closed out the victory with a six-out save, his fifth of the season and 10th career, to extend his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 15 dating back to the end of last season. Cook is the ninth Boilermaker all-time to reach double figures for carer saves.
Milburn induced ground ball double plays in the third and fourth innings, erasing a walk in both cases. He helped himself with a nifty pick on a comebacker, starting a 1-6-3 twin killing in the top of the third. Milburn struck out the side in the first inning while making his first start as a Boilermaker.
As the first two batters he faced, Vallone struck out Valpo's cleanup and 5-hole hitters to leave the bases loaded full of inherited runners in the top of the fifth. He went on to retire eight of the 10 batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 inning vs. the 2-3-4 portion of the lineup in the top of the seventh after the Beacons (5-15) had cut Purdue's lead to 4-2.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Albert Choi: 24-game on-base (as a Boilermaker)
• Brandon Anderson: 23-game on-base; 5-game hit
• Avery Cook: 15 consecutive scoreless innings (since May 22, 2024)
• Keenan Spence: 7-game on-base, 6-game hit
• Logan Sutter: 6-game on-base
• Aaron Manias: 6-game on-base
Including Rogers' home run, leadoff hits in the second through fifth innings all led to runs. RBI came from Ty Gill (sac fly in the 2nd), Aaron Manias (single in the 3rd) and Keenan Spence (single in the 5th).
Purdue had a chance to blow the game open in the third inning, having the bases loaded with no outs after Manias' RBI single, but a strikeout and double play followed. A leadoff double from Lukas Cook ignited that rally.
The Boilermakers did successfully extend the lead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, doing so without the luxury of a hit. Rogers, Gill and Albert Choi teamed up to create havoc on the base paths and Lukas Cook drove in the final run of the game with a sac fly.
Avery Cook retired all six batters he faced after entering the game with a runner on second, the tying run at the plate and no outs in the top of the eighth.
Ten of Purdue's 11 strikeouts, the team's 10th double-figure total of the season, came vs. the 1-through-5 portion of the Valpo lineup.
The Boilermakers are back in action Friday when they begin a three-game Big Ten series vs. No. 24 UCLA (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten). The Bruins will be the first of four first-time visitors to Alexander Field this season. The teams have not played since a May 2012 series in Los Angeles.
March 25 marks the earliest date on the calendar the Boilermakers (20-4) have ever reached the 20-win mark. The 2012 Big Ten championship team, which holds the program record with 45 victories, was also 20-4 after 24 games and won its 20th game on March 31 after the season opener was Feb. 18 (vs. Feb. 14 this year).
Purdue is the first Big Ten team to reach the 20-win mark this season. Tuesday, the Boilers won their eighth straight midweek game dating back to April 16, 2024.
Brandon Rogers hit his first home run at Alexander Field, an opposite-field shot inside the right field foul pole to lead off the fourth inning. The center fielder also hit a double down the right field line and scored twice.
Lefthanders Isaac Milburn (four) and Michael Vallone (five) teamed up for nine of the 11 strikeouts over a combined 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball. Milburn went four innings as the starter and Vallone registered the biggest outs of the game in the fifth inning.
Avery Cook closed out the victory with a six-out save, his fifth of the season and 10th career, to extend his streak of consecutive scoreless innings to 15 dating back to the end of last season. Cook is the ninth Boilermaker all-time to reach double figures for carer saves.
Milburn induced ground ball double plays in the third and fourth innings, erasing a walk in both cases. He helped himself with a nifty pick on a comebacker, starting a 1-6-3 twin killing in the top of the third. Milburn struck out the side in the first inning while making his first start as a Boilermaker.
As the first two batters he faced, Vallone struck out Valpo's cleanup and 5-hole hitters to leave the bases loaded full of inherited runners in the top of the fifth. He went on to retire eight of the 10 batters he faced, including a 1-2-3 inning vs. the 2-3-4 portion of the lineup in the top of the seventh after the Beacons (5-15) had cut Purdue's lead to 4-2.
STREAKS EXTENDED
• Albert Choi: 24-game on-base (as a Boilermaker)
• Brandon Anderson: 23-game on-base; 5-game hit
• Avery Cook: 15 consecutive scoreless innings (since May 22, 2024)
• Keenan Spence: 7-game on-base, 6-game hit
• Logan Sutter: 6-game on-base
• Aaron Manias: 6-game on-base
Including Rogers' home run, leadoff hits in the second through fifth innings all led to runs. RBI came from Ty Gill (sac fly in the 2nd), Aaron Manias (single in the 3rd) and Keenan Spence (single in the 5th).
Purdue had a chance to blow the game open in the third inning, having the bases loaded with no outs after Manias' RBI single, but a strikeout and double play followed. A leadoff double from Lukas Cook ignited that rally.
The Boilermakers did successfully extend the lead with two runs in the bottom of the eighth, doing so without the luxury of a hit. Rogers, Gill and Albert Choi teamed up to create havoc on the base paths and Lukas Cook drove in the final run of the game with a sac fly.
Avery Cook retired all six batters he faced after entering the game with a runner on second, the tying run at the plate and no outs in the top of the eighth.
Ten of Purdue's 11 strikeouts, the team's 10th double-figure total of the season, came vs. the 1-through-5 portion of the Valpo lineup.
The Boilermakers are back in action Friday when they begin a three-game Big Ten series vs. No. 24 UCLA (18-5, 7-2 Big Ten). The Bruins will be the first of four first-time visitors to Alexander Field this season. The teams have not played since a May 2012 series in Los Angeles.