Purdue Baseball: Boilermakers Close Out Undefeated Weekend Series with 20-6 Victory
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — For the first time since May 2010, Purdue baseball has won a series against Illinois in Champaign.
The Boilermakers capped off a perfect 4-0 weekend with a 20-6 win over the Illini on Monday. Purdue, now 10-15 on the season, was part of a three-team pod with Illinois and Michigan State. After winning two games against both the Illini and the Spartans, the team has won five straight games and six of its last seven.
The Boilermakers’ 20 runs in its final game against the Illini were the most since bringing in 27 against Purdue Fort Wayne in May 2018. Purdue has now recorded a five-game win streak in each of the last two seasons.
The program scored 13 runs in the ninth inning over the weekend and during its first 25 games have recorded 33 ninth-inning runs.
Monday: 20-6 Win Over Illinois
Purdue started its Monday game against Illinois quickly as senior Miles Simington and fifth-year senior Zac Fascia each hammered their first home runs of the season in the first inning, bringing in five scores. The Boilermakers scored multiple runs in five different innings, including six in the final frame.
Freshman Jeremy Schork also struck his first home run of the season — a grand slam in the ninth inning. By joining redshirt freshman Cam Johnson as the only other player for the Boilermakers to hit grand slams this season, Schork helped the team register two in the same season since 2016.
Sophomore pitcher Jett Jackson made his first start since March 28, and played until the bottom of the fourth where he allowed two batters to reach base. After allowing a leadoff walk to start the game, he retired eight consecutive players in the Illini lineup.
The only hit he allowed was a two-out bunt single.
Sunday: 6-4 Win Over Illinois
Purdue snapped an eight-game losing streak against Illinois on Sunday. The Boilermakers defeated the Fighting Illini on its home field for the first time since the 2014 Big Ten opener. Following its victory over Michigan State earlier that day, Purdue defeated two different teams on the same day for the first time since recording wins against Saint Louis and Incarnate Word in 2018.
Simington recorded a two-run double that broke an otherwise even game in the ninth inning. The scores ended up being the difference against Illinois as Purdue earned a 6-4 victory.
In the opening inning against Illinois, senior Ben Nisle nailed his fifth home run of the season — a team-high and 14th of his career — on a two-run slam.
Sunday: 8-3 Win Over Michigan State
While leading by just one score before entering the top of the ninth inning, Purdue brought in four runs to secure an almost insurmountable lead over Michigan State. The Boilermakers won the game 8-3, officially sweeping the Spartans.
Purdue has won three of its four matchups with Michigan State so far this season, including three straight, dating back to April 12. The victory on Monday marked the first time since Purdue’s 2005 series versus Iowa that the Boilermakers rallied to win a four-game series.
Sunday: 2-1 Win Over Michigan State
Purdue opened the weekend with an 11-inning thriller against Michigan State. Junior Evan Albrecht brought in the game’s tying run in the ninth inning and also secured the victory for the Boilermakers by driving home a walk-off score.
It was the Boilermakers' third walk-off win this season, the first time they have recorded three in that fashion since 2017.
At the top of the 11th inning, senior Tyler Powers made a diving grab at third base with two Michigan State runners on base for the team’s final out.
Junior Calvin Schapira recorded seven strikeouts in more than seven innings, tying his season-high. It was the longest outing for a Boilermaker pitcher since Tanner Andrews pitched a complete game in 2018.