Purdue Baseball Falls Short 6-5 Against Illinois Despite Ninth-Inning Explosion
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue baseball made something out of nothing Friday, scoring five runs in the ninth inning but falling just one run short in a 6-5 loss to Illinois.
A slow start for junior pitcher Calvin Schapira on the mound coupled with a struggling batting rotation spelled disaster for the Boilermakers early in the game. The Fighting Illini managed to jump to a 3-0 lead during the first four innings.
Illinois pitcher Andrew Hoffman allowed just one hit and struck out four batters in six innings pitched.
"I just thought their pitching did a tremendous job," Purdue head coach Greg Goff said after the game. "They were able to mix speeds, and I just thought [Hoffman] located really well and got our hitters on our heels a little bit early on. Sometimes you just have to give credit to the other guy."
The Boilermakers had just one hit through eight innings. Sophomore Mike Bolton managed a single up the middle in the bottom of the first inning.
Bolton contributed to offense by stealing two bases against Illinois, but the Boilermakers left five runners on base in the loss.
Without another hit until the ninth, Illinois built up a cushion of six runs to seemingly put Purdue away.
But Fighting Illini pitchers Jack Crowder and Ryan Kutt gave up five runs in the final inning of play, including three home run shots by senior Ben Nisle, junior Ryan Howe and senior Kyle LaPlante.
"Our guys don't ever quit," Goff said. "We stress on playing 27 outs, and our guys continue to do that. I told them tonight how proud I was to persevere when things aren't going our way. Our guys just continue to battle, and when you bring the tying run to the plate in a game you felt you never had a chance to win, that's pretty awesome."
Purdue has registered 37 ninth-inning runs this season and 17 in the last five games.
On the mound, Schapira's night ended after pitching just over six innings. He allowed eight hits and four runs while failing to strike out a single batter.
He was replaced by junior pitcher Ricky Castro in the seventh inning, who gave up one hit, one run and walked two batters in only nine pitches.
Juniors Calvin Starnes and Kyle Wade cleaned up the game by combining for three strikeouts while allowing just two hits and one run for the remainder of the game. Their late-game performances fueled the team's potential comeback.
"I was very pleased, [Calvin] Starnes was able to get out of bases loaded, and Kyle Wade had an opportunity to come in there. If our bullpen doesn't hold, we don't have a chance there."
On the defensive end, Purdue recorded three errors during this game that resulted in two runners reaching first base, four runners advancing and one score.
The Boilermakers are now 1-11 on the season when committing two errors or more. The loss to Illinois snaps Purdue's five-game win streak.
"You have to bounce back, baseball is a funny game," Goff said. "If we would have had a couple of those balls that we hit that fell in, we would have got some runs early. We just try to stay positive with them and help them understand we have to be a little more aggressive early and play good defense."
Stories Related to Purdue Baseball
- PURDUE SERIES PREVIEW: Purdue baseball continued its five-game series with Illinois on Friday. The Boilermakers defeated the Fighting Illini twice this past weekend as part of a three-team pod. CLICK HERE
- BIG TEN STANDINGS, SCHEDULE: Here are the current Big Ten standings and the weekend's schedule around the league. CLICK HERE
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