Purdue Baseball: Boilers Gets Pounded by Indiana 17-2 in Nonconference Game
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Purdue's baseball team is built on pitching and defense, but the Boilermakers didn't any of either one on Wednesday. Five errors and nine free base runners — six walks, three hit batters — directly led to a 17-2 shellacking by Indiana at Bart Kaufman Field.
It was a beatdown of epic proportions. It was the largest margin of victory in the series for Indiana since 1961, nearly 60 years ago when they won 19-2. The Hoosiers had 16 hits and batted around twice, forcing the mercy rule on the Boilermakers after seven innings. They also scored all those runs without the benefit of a single home run.
Purdue coach Greg Goff could do nothing more than shake his head afterward. He's hoping to move on quickly from this embarrassment.
"A game like this, you hate it because it's a rivalry game,'' Goff said. "This team is built on pitching and defense, and we'll be fine. I'm not happy with this, but it's still just March 4th. It's like our second or third time outside. We'll be fine.''
This one was over before it started, really, with the Hoosiers (7-3) coming through an ugly first inning with a 7-1 lead. The frame took 48 minutes, and featured 85 pitches, four walks, three hit-batsmen. and two Purdue errors.
The Boilermakers (6-5) actually struck first, taking advantage of some wildness from Indiana starting pitcher McCabe Brown. He hit two batters and walked two more, allowing a run without anyone hitting the ball. All three outs came on strikeouts, so he threw 39 pitches without a single ball being put in play.
"We had bases loaded in the first and didn't take advantage of that opportunity,'' Goff said.
The Hoosiers answered with seven runs in the bottom of the inning, their first game at home after nine games down south. They took advantage of two walks, a hit batter and those two Purdue errors.
"Whenever you play a really good team like Indiana, you can't give them so many freebies like we did,'' he said. "They took advantage of all of them.''
First baseman Jordan Fucci had the big blow, a three-run double to right-center. Cooper Trinkle, who got the start at second base, drove in two more with a single. Drew Ashley also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Indiana simply kept piling it on practically every inning. Cole Barr singled in the second and scored on a Collin Hopkins single. Four walks in the fourth inning led to three runs, with Ashley driving in two with a single to make it 11-1.
The Hoosiers scored six more runs in the fifth, getting six singles and sending 11 men to the plate to go up 17-1.
The game was called after seven inning because of the 10-run rule.
Purdue had just five hits on the day, and their bats have been quiet for a while in this four-game losing streak.
"Our hitters, they're better than what we've shown so far. But we'll get back to work tomorrow and be ready for Friday. We'll be fine.
The Boilermakers play a three-game series at Western Kentucky this weekend.
Tom Brew is an award-winning journalist who's worked at some America's finest newspapers, including the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Times, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Indianapolis Star. He also owns the book publishing company, Hilltop30 Publishing Group, and he has written four books and published 16 others.