Boilermakers Country

Purdue Earns 7-6 Comeback Victory, Splits Doubleheader With Minnesota

Purdue baseball concluded the 2021 season with a memorable 7-6 comeback victory over Minnesota. The team split the doubleheader on Sunday and finished with a 16-26 record.

D.J. Fezler

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue baseball played its final two games of the season on Sunday after welcoming Minnesota to Alexander Field for a doubleheader on Sunday. The two teams met previously between May 20 and May 23 for a four-game series in Minneapolis, where the Boilermakers won three.

Purdue dropped the first game in a low-scoring affair before mounting a comeback win in the second, closing out the season on a high note. Between the two matchups, the program recognized eight seniors. They played in their final collegiate games this weekend.

The Boilermakers finished the season with a 16-26 record, their lowest win total in a full season of play since earning 10 in 2016. Only the Golden Gophers finished the season with a worse record in the Big Ten (6-31).

Here's a look a recap of games in West Lafayette:

Game 1: Purdue 1, Minnesota 2

The Boilermakers fell behind early in the first game of their Sunday doubleheader with the Golden Gophers. Junior Zack Raabe blasted a solo home-run to left field off the pitch of Boilermaker redshirt junior Cory Brooks. He rounded the bases to take a first-inning lead after facing two outs and two strikes.

Minnesota extended its lead in the second after a throwing error by Purdue junior shortstop Evan Albrecht. His poor throw allowed senior Easton Bertrand to make it to home plate.

The Boilermakers cut their deficit in half in the fourth inning off a single from senior Tyler Powers. His hit brought in junior Ryan Howe, but the team never managed to secure the game-tying run.

Purdue and Minnesota each finished the game with seven hits and one error, but the Boilermakers stranded nine runners on base compared to seven from the Golden Gophers.

Powers recorded three hits while no other Purdue player managed more than one. Brooks pitched 7 2/3 innings, giving up seven hits and two runs while recording one strikeout. He finished the season with a 3-4 record on the mound.

After an approximate 45-minute break for senior recognition, Purdue and Minnesota took the field for the second game of the day on Sunday.

Game 2: Purdue 7, Minnesota 6

Purdue started the game strong in the first inning with a sacrifice fly from senior Ben Nisle, allowing fifth-year senior Skyler Hunter to score. Hunter recorded three hits to finish his career with 268, good for third all-time in program history.

After a relatively quiet first three innings, Minnesota began a scoring assault at the top of the fourth.

In three straight innings, the Golden Gophers rattled off two runs and brought the score to 6-1. After the first pair of Minnesota runs, Purdue redshirt sophomore Jackson Smeltz was pulled from the mound in favor of junior Landon Weins.

Smeltz threw 68 total pitches, allowing two hits and three runs with just one strikeout. Weins couldn't stop the onslaught, proceeding to give up three more hits and as many runs.

Purdue stepped up to the plate in the bottom sixth inning and faced a mountainous five-run deficit. But the team responded quickly, putting together five runs in the inning to tie the game.

The rally started with a two-RBI double from senior Mason Gavre, bringing home Nisle and sophomore Mike Bolton Jr. Senior Zac Fascia also advanced to third. Redshirt junior Justin Walker Jr. hit a two-RBI single, bringing in Fascia and Gavre.

Hunter grounded out, allowing senior Kyle LaPlante to reach home plate for the game-tying run.

Gavre struck again in the seventh inning, posting a single up the middle and another RBI. He posted three RBI on two hits to help take a 7-6 lead with two innings remaining.

Junior pitcher Calvin Schapira recorded three innings of relief on the mound to put the game away. He gave up just one hit and threw one strikeout while facing 11 total batters.

In his first appearance as a relief pitcher for the Boilermakers, Schapira earned his second win of the season.

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D.J. Fezler
D.J. FEZLER

D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball. 

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