WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – CJ Richmond's walk-off homer punctuated a three-run ninth inning as Purdue Baseball rallied for an 8-6 victory vs. Arizona State in the first-ever Monday game at Alexander Field.
The Boilermakers (23-13) scored all eight of their runs over the final five innings while overcoming deficits of 4-0, 5-4 and 6-5. It was Purdue's first walk-off win since March 16 of last season and the first time the program rallied for a walk-off after trailing entering its final at-bat since May 2023.
Keenan Spence delivered a pair of game-tying hits, an RBI single in the seventh inning that made the score 5-5 and an RBI double in the ninth moments before Richmond's home run.
Richmond elevated a pitch into the strong wind blowing out to right field and the big fly proved to be a no-doubter – a 440-foot blast to right center for his fifth home run of the season.
Brandon Anderson also hit a two-run homer to right center, with his seventh long ball of the season in the fifth inning igniting the Boilermakers' comeback.
As a pinch hitter, Breck Nowik delivered a game-tying, two-run double with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Nowik remained in the game and played second base for not only the first time as a Boilermaker, but also the first time in his collegiate career.
MONDAY NOTABLES
• CJ Richmond joined Lukas Cook (2023) and Mason Gavre (2021) as Boilermakers to hit a walk-off home run at Alexander Field.
• Richmond leads the team with three home runs, 10 RBI and a .459 on-base percentage since returning to the lineup April 4 after missing all of March with a broken hamate bone in his wrist.
• Logan Sutter's leadoff single ignited Purdue's three-run ninth inning. He also scored a game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh on Keenan Spence's single. Sutter began his day by connecting for a Big Ten-leading 16th double in his first at-bat.
• Spence had three hits for the second game in a row, finishing the five-game homestand with six hits over his final nine at-bats after not playing in Saturday's win. The senior successfully squashed an 0-for-23 slump.
• The Boilermakers used 21 players in the back-and-forth battle – six pitchers and 15 position players. Four different Boilers took an at-bat in the 1-hole in the lineup.
• Avery Cook got the final three outs of the game for Purdue, retiring ASU's 6-7-8 hitters on eight pitches to strand an inherited runner at first base. Cook took the mound for the fifth time in the last six games.
Center fielder Isaiah Jackson had a significant impact on the game while batting in the 9-hole in the Sun Devils' lineup. He reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances, delivering a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning. It was a big hit on the next pitch after he had to return to the batter's box, initially thinking he had been hit by a pitch (and the home plate umpire ruling otherwise).
Jackson made a diving catch in left center to rob pinch hitter Avery Moore of a double in the fifth inning. It came with a runner aboard and moments before Anderson connected for his home run.
Jackson was thrown out at second base on a unique sequence to end the top of the seventh. Catcher Sergio DeCello's throw came a few inches from hitting pitcher Enas Hayden in the face while Hayden was down on one knee on the mound. Hayden saw the throw in the nick of time and was able to lunge backwards, allowing the ball to sail past his head. It one-hopped into Nowik's glove at second base to cut down the base stealer.
As the first Boilermaker out of the bullpen, Isaac Milburn escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and retired seven of eight batters during a successful stretch, striking out three. Justin Guiliano rolled through a 1-2-3 inning vs. ASU's 3-4-5 hitters in the top of the sixth on a day in which he worked two innings of one-hit relief, his longest outing of the season.
Purdue squandered a pair of early scoring opportunities, failing to capitalize on Sutter's first-inning double that gave the home team runners on second and third with one out. The following frame, the Boilermakers loaded the bases with one out but saw the threat go by the boards on an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Purdue is back in action Friday when it opens a three-game Big Ten series at Penn State. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. ET.
The Boilermakers (23-13) scored all eight of their runs over the final five innings while overcoming deficits of 4-0, 5-4 and 6-5. It was Purdue's first walk-off win since March 16 of last season and the first time the program rallied for a walk-off after trailing entering its final at-bat since May 2023.
Keenan Spence delivered a pair of game-tying hits, an RBI single in the seventh inning that made the score 5-5 and an RBI double in the ninth moments before Richmond's home run.
Richmond elevated a pitch into the strong wind blowing out to right field and the big fly proved to be a no-doubter – a 440-foot blast to right center for his fifth home run of the season.
Brandon Anderson also hit a two-run homer to right center, with his seventh long ball of the season in the fifth inning igniting the Boilermakers' comeback.
As a pinch hitter, Breck Nowik delivered a game-tying, two-run double with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. Nowik remained in the game and played second base for not only the first time as a Boilermaker, but also the first time in his collegiate career.
MONDAY NOTABLES
• CJ Richmond joined Lukas Cook (2023) and Mason Gavre (2021) as Boilermakers to hit a walk-off home run at Alexander Field.
• Richmond leads the team with three home runs, 10 RBI and a .459 on-base percentage since returning to the lineup April 4 after missing all of March with a broken hamate bone in his wrist.
• Logan Sutter's leadoff single ignited Purdue's three-run ninth inning. He also scored a game-tying run in the bottom of the seventh on Keenan Spence's single. Sutter began his day by connecting for a Big Ten-leading 16th double in his first at-bat.
• Spence had three hits for the second game in a row, finishing the five-game homestand with six hits over his final nine at-bats after not playing in Saturday's win. The senior successfully squashed an 0-for-23 slump.
• The Boilermakers used 21 players in the back-and-forth battle – six pitchers and 15 position players. Four different Boilers took an at-bat in the 1-hole in the lineup.
• Avery Cook got the final three outs of the game for Purdue, retiring ASU's 6-7-8 hitters on eight pitches to strand an inherited runner at first base. Cook took the mound for the fifth time in the last six games.
Center fielder Isaiah Jackson had a significant impact on the game while batting in the 9-hole in the Sun Devils' lineup. He reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances, delivering a go-ahead RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning. It was a big hit on the next pitch after he had to return to the batter's box, initially thinking he had been hit by a pitch (and the home plate umpire ruling otherwise).
Jackson made a diving catch in left center to rob pinch hitter Avery Moore of a double in the fifth inning. It came with a runner aboard and moments before Anderson connected for his home run.
Jackson was thrown out at second base on a unique sequence to end the top of the seventh. Catcher Sergio DeCello's throw came a few inches from hitting pitcher Enas Hayden in the face while Hayden was down on one knee on the mound. Hayden saw the throw in the nick of time and was able to lunge backwards, allowing the ball to sail past his head. It one-hopped into Nowik's glove at second base to cut down the base stealer.
As the first Boilermaker out of the bullpen, Isaac Milburn escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and retired seven of eight batters during a successful stretch, striking out three. Justin Guiliano rolled through a 1-2-3 inning vs. ASU's 3-4-5 hitters in the top of the sixth on a day in which he worked two innings of one-hit relief, his longest outing of the season.
Purdue squandered a pair of early scoring opportunities, failing to capitalize on Sutter's first-inning double that gave the home team runners on second and third with one out. The following frame, the Boilermakers loaded the bases with one out but saw the threat go by the boards on an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.
Purdue is back in action Friday when it opens a three-game Big Ten series at Penn State. First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. ET.