Purdue Baseball Sweeps Penn State to Lead Big Ten

Inclement weather moved Sunday’s game at Penn State to Saturday as part of a doubleheader, but that didn’t matter for Purdue. The Boilers were able to adapt and outscore the host Nittany Lions 12-3 over both games to earn a sweep in the first Big Ten series of the season.

Friday

Purdue 3, Penn State 2

Tanner Andrews went 6 ²⁄₃ before turning it over to the bullpen, and they were up to the task. Jacson McGowan drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first and Purdue added two more in the third to take an early 3-0 lead. The Nittany Lions got single runs in the seventh and eighth, but with the tying run at second and one out in the ninth Ross Learnard struck out two straight batters to earn his third save of the season. Andrews moved to 3-3 on the year, while Tyler Powers had two hits and a run scored.

Saturday

Purdue 6, Penn State 3

Gareth Stroh is now 4-0 on the year after giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in 6 innings of work. Dalton Parker pitched two perfect innings and Trevor Cheaney earned his first save of the season with a perfect ninth inning to close out the win.

At the plat McGowan hit his 8th home run of the season, a two-run job in the third that made it 5-2. Penn State had an early lead after two first inning runs, but Purdue got three in the second, mostly htanks to a 2-run single from Powers. Penn State got a run in the third to make it 5-3, but Purdue got the run back in the fourth and both teams were scoreless the rest of the way.

Purdue 9, Penn State 0

The third and final game of the series was all Purdue. Freshman Trent Johnson got his first career win with five innigns of 1 hit ball and both Cameron Williams and Matt Moore came out fo the bullpen to preserve the shutout. All told, Purdue pitchers only allowed three hits.

The game was scoreless, however, until Purdue broke it open in the fifth. Powers drove in a run with a bases loaded walk, then Harry Shipley drove in two runs after a bases loaded wild pitch. All told Purdue had 11 hits and 7 walks, and blew the game open with three in the ninth. McGowana added a pair of RBI and Charlie Nasuti was 3 of 4 at the plate with a pair of runs scored.

The Boilers are no 14-10, 3-0 and on a five game winning streak after going 1-8 in its previous nine. They also sit atop the Big Ten tied with Michigan as the only two teams without a conference loss. Of course, it is still very early since it is a 24-game season.

This coming week Purdue hosts Oakland Tuesday and Wednesday night for a nice little midweek series, then it goes to Indiana for three. The Hoosiers are the favorite to win the Big Ten and are currently ranked 11th according to D1baseball.com and 16th in the coaches poll. That makes them a likely NCAA host, but Purdue did take 2 of 3 from them last season at Alexander Field.