Purdue Baseball-Notches first win of 2014

The Purdue Boilermakers split the doubleheader on Saturday vs Butler and host Samford. The team was originally scheduled to travel to Missouri State for a three game series but due to weather the series was canceled.

The bats came alive and the pitching was some of the best I have seen in this young season.

Game 1: Purdue (1-6) vs Butler (1-6)

Winning Pitcher: Gavin Downs (1-1)

Losing Pitcher: Kyle Kramp (0-2)

Save: Tim McElory (1)

The Boilers notched their first win behind great bullpen work by Gavin Downs (5.2IP, 5H, 0R) and multi-hit games by three separate players.

Brett Haan made his first start as a Boilermaker; however, things did not go too smoothly for him. Haan only retired 4 batters before being replaced by Gavin Downs. Haan struggled early in the second after loading up the bases and giving up one run on two singles and two hit by pitches'. Downs came in and out just like that, only facing one batter and forcing a double play to end the inning.

The Boilers turned around and tied things up in the top of the third as Cody Strong started things off with a walk followed up by a Sean McHugh double down the left field line to score Strong.

Things went quiet on both sides until Sean McHugh singled to left field for his second hit of the game. Kyle Wood followed him up by singling to right field, and advancing to third allowing McHugh to score on a fielding error. With Kyle Wood standing 90 feet away from making it a 3-1 ballgame, senior Conner Hudnall stepped up to the plate and singled through the right side allowing Wood to come across the plate.

Sean McHugh, Kyle Wood and Kyle Upp all accounted for 6 of the 9 hits for Purdue, each having 2 apiece

With two outs in the bottom of the 9^th inning, lead-off batter, Chris Maranto of Butler doubled down the right field line. Drew Small knocked him in making it a one run ball game on a single up the middle on Mike Lutz. Tim McElory recorded his first save of the season by coming in a throwing one pitch and forcing a groundout to Cody Strong at second base.

Game 2: Purdue (1-7) at Samford (5-4)

Winning Pitcher: Alex Milazzo (1-0)

Losing Pitcher: Jordan Minch (0-3)

Save: Andres Garcia (3)

The Boilers looked strong against this above .500 level ball club. Jordan Minch came out throwing hard as always and put up a fight against the Bulldogs.

Minch worked 6 innings while allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 strikeouts. Minch struggled with ball control today though, allowing six free bases, three apiece on walks and hit by pitches. Four different pitchers worked in relieve over 2 innings.

Samford stuck first in the bottom of the 5^th scoring two runs after Minch loaded up the bases on a hit by pitch and two walks. With the bases loaded Samford's Drew McWhorter singled to allow two runs to score making it a 2-0 ball game.

The Boilermakers answered back quick making it a one run ballgame when Kyle Upp grounded out to shortstop allowing Sean McHugh to score from third. McHugh reached safely to first on a single to left center then was moved over to third by Conner Hudnall's double down the right field line.

Minch came back out to the mound for his final inning of work and on the first pitch, Caleb Bryson took Minch deep to make it a 3-1 game.

Matt Frawley replaced Minch on the mound in the seventh and gave up a one out double to Heath Quinn. After a walk and a wild pitch, Hunter Swilling singled up the middle giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 edge over the Boilers. Joe Eichmann replaced Frawley on the bump and with one pitch he got two outs in odd fashion. The batter popped the ball up in foul territory and catcher Sean McHugh caught the ball right up next to the fence, with runners on first and third, the runner on first took off for second. The runner on third tried to advance home but was thrown out on a throw from Brandon Krieg at shortstop to pitcher Joe Eichmann. The Boilers could breathe again after getting out of another tight jam.

Sean Mchugh took Parker Curry deep in the 8^th inning to start things off right for the squad. Kyle Wood then doubled down the right field line and was able to score when Kyle Upp knocked him in two batters later.

Cody Strong almost sent the game into the bottom of the 9th inning when he stepped into the batter's box with two outs in the top of the frame and sent a high fly ball to deep left field. The left fielder caught the ball with his back up against the wall and glove at the top of the fence, the ball would have been gone if Strong would have hit the ball three feet farther to the left.

Big players today:

• Sean McHugh: 4 for 9, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R
• Kyle Wood: 4 for 8, 2B, BB, 2 R
• Kyle Upp: 3 for 7, BB, 2 RBI
• Gavin Downs: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, BB, SO, HBP
• Mike Lutz: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, SO

The Boilers return to action next Friday as they take on top ranked LSU for a three game series in Baton Rouge, LA.