Purdue Baseball Takes 1 of 3 at Ohio State

This weekend was not great for the Purdue pitching staff. Ohio State knocked all of Purdue’s pitchers around. The Boilers had a weekend ERA of 11.52, gave up 45 hits and 38 runs, and the Buckeyes hit nine home runs. Even in that, Purdue still managed to win a game thanks to an offensive explosion of its own.

Friday

Ohio State 11, Purdue 3

It was a rough outing for Calvin Schapira, as he gave up 5 runs in three innings and the Boilers were down 6-0 after four innings. Skyler Hunter had an RBI single in the fourth and Jack Firestone had a big 2-run single in the fifth that cut the lead to 7-3, but a four run bottom of the sixth by Ohio State ended things.

Saturday

Ohio State 12, Purdue 2

Purdue did have an early lead in this one, as Hunter singled home Evan Albrecht in the top of the third to make it 1-0. Single runs by the Buckeyes in the fourth and fifth made it 2-1 Ohio State, but Zach Dezenzo’s three run home run in the sixth as part of a four run inning blew the game open. Miles Simington had a solo home run in the seventh, but Ohio State added three runs each in the 7th and 8th to close it out.

Sunday

Purdue 16, Ohio State 15

This was a really weird game. For the first time in 20 years Purdue had two different instances of back-to-back home runs as Simington and Ben Nisle did it in the third, then Nisle and Zac Fascia did it in the sixth. Ohio State raced out to a 5-0 lead after two innings off of Cory Brooks, then Purdue scored eight straight with four in the third and four in the fourth to go in front 8-5. Simington’s third inning homer was a three run job followed by a solo shot from Nisle.

After Purdue went in front 8-5 it was Ohio State’s turn for a run. The Buckeyes got two in the fourth and five in the fifth to get back in front 12-8. Purdue would respond with two in the sixth, four in the seventh, and two in the eight to swing back ahead 16-12. Hunter, Simington, Fascia, and Nisle did damage all day with a combined 12 hits, 13 RBI, and 4 home runs.

Ohio State was able to get back in it with two in the eight and one in the ninth. It had the tying run 90 feet away when Jackson Smeltz got a big strikeout to earn his first save. Eric Hildebrand moved to 3-2 out of the bullpen, giving up just one run in an inning and two thirds.

Nisle was 5 for 10 on the weekend and continues to hit the ball extremely well with two more home runs to get to 8 on the season. Fascia was 6 of 13 on the weekend while Hunter and Simington each drove in five runs.

Purdue returns home next weekend to host Northwestern for three games. The Wildcats are 12-16 on the season and after going to Maryland (19-13) the following week Purdue gets to close with five games against last place Minnesota (a dismal 4-26 on a 13 game losing streak) and Penn State (12-18). Even at 11-20, Purdue has a favorable final 13 games, but they would need to go 11-2 just to get to .500 on the year.