Most Memorable Games Archive: 2018 / 2017 / 2015 / 2014 / 2013 / 2012 / 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's 2019 campaign was filled with its fair share of ups and downs while once again producing a number of memorable matchups.
Exciting finishes, pitcher's duels, big innings, double-figure strikeout totals, relief pitchers escaping jams and comebacks once again were common themes among the games that left the most indelible impression on the 2019 season. Ultimately, it went down as a rebuilding season after the 38-win success of 2018. But with five extra-innings affairs and six last at-bat wins, there was once again a lot of dramatic finishes.
The Boilermakers opened Big Ten play at 4-1 and posted their second-best win total (13) at home since Alexander Field opened in 2013. The valleys were a 1-10 start to the season against a challenge non-conference slate and a disappointing eight-game skid in Big Ten play to end the year. The Boilermakers also lost their first six games of April after closing March as winners of six of seven.
On two occasions, Purdue held the lead in all three games of a road series against a top-25 team that qualified for an NCAA Regional. But Southern Miss and Illinois both rallied and found a way to sweep those series. With a more veteran roster set to return for the 2020 campaign, the Boilermakers' expectation will be to win those types of series.
Looking back at the entire 54-game season reveals that some games were certainly more memorable than others. This annual list is a compilation of Purdue's most memorable games of 2019 as selected by the communications staff.
HONORABLE MENTION (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)
Feb. 15 – at No. 21 Southern Miss 7, Purdue 6 (10 Innings): Cole McKenzie hit the first pitch of the season back through the box for a single. That's always a nice way to open a new campaign. This four-hour marathon was a back-and-forth thriller. The Boilermakers turned a two-run deficit into a two-run lead, opening up a 6-4 lead in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Owen Jansen, the sophomore's third double and fourth hit of the night. But USM scored a single run in the eighth, ninth and 10th to rally for the victory. Full Recap / Box Score
March 9 – Purdue 9, NJIT 8: The first of Purdue's two walk-off wins also featured a four-run comeback. NJIT broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run top of the seventh, but the Boilermakers quickly answered with a three-spot. Johnny Sage's sacrifice fly in the eighth gave Purdue its first lead of the day, but it took a bases-loaded walk to Cole McKenzie in the ninth to end the nightcap of the 19-inning doubleheader. Austin Peterson (9 of 20 batters faced) and Patrick J. Smith (7 of 17) combined for 16 strikeouts, tied for second most in program history at the time. Full Recap / Box Score
March 22 – Purdue 5, at Northwestern 2: The Boilermakers won their Big Ten opener for the sixth time in the last eight years. Chicagoland natives Patrick J. Smith and Ryan Howe delivered for Purdue in a return to their home state. Smith fanned seven over 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out the side in the bottom of the first after a rocky start. Howe's RBI single in the sixth broke a 2-2 tie. Evan Albrecht reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances. Skyler Hunter recorded his 50th career multi-hit game. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
March 23 – at Northwestern 2, Purdue 1: Trent Johnson struck out 10 of the 15 batters he faced over 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, accounting for the rare double-figure strikeout performance by a reliever. Nick Evarts delivered a bases-loaded RBI single in the ninth to make it a one-run game, but a double play ball on the next pitch made the Wildcats a winner in nail-biting fashion. Full Recap / Box Score
April 10 – at Indiana 7, Purdue 6 (10 Innings): The rivalry lived up to its billing once again, this time in a nationally televised game on FS1. Extra-base hits were big for both teams, with the Boilermakers scoring five of their runs on doubles and IU hitting a pair of home runs while building a 6-2 lead. Cole McKenzie delivered a two-out, two-run double in the seventh and later a two-out, game-tying double in the ninth to extend the game. Purdue pitchers struck out a program-record 18 batters over 9 1/3 innings. Cade Bunnell delivered the walk-off single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning. The senior finished the season with only three RBI. Full Recap / Box Score
April 13 – at Purdue 9, Iowa 5: The Boilermakers snapped a season-long six-game losing skid thanks in part to a five-run seventh inning. Purdue raced out to a 4-0 lead but Iowa roared back and went ahead 5-4 in the sixth inning. Zac Fascia's two-run triple and Tyler Power's two-out, two-run single were the keys hits of the big rally as seven consecutive Boilermakers put together a productive plate appearance. Powers turned a 5-3 double play in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
April 20 – Purdue 6, at Rutgers 2: Trent Johnson struck out over six innings of two-hit ball in his first start of the season. It was a scoreless game until the seventh when Rutgers committed errors on consecutive sacrifice bunts. Five different Boilermakers drew a walk in a four-run ninth inning. Zac Fascia's two-out, two-run single blew it open. Dalton Parker returned to the mound, making his first relief appearance of the season after an injury had sidelined him since spring break. Full Recap / Box Score
April 26 – at Purdue 8, Southeast Missouri 3: Bryce Bonner and Milo Beam both homered to right field, with Bonner's opposite-field three-run shot in the fifth inning giving the Boilermakers their first lead. Trent Johnson faced only 16 batters through the first five innings in his first start of the season at Alexander. The Bullpen backed him up, retiring 10 of 11 batters faced as Purdue reached the 10-K mark on the mound for the 19th time. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
May 7 – at Purdue 9, Ball State 3: The Boilermakers closed their season-long nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record after topping a 30-win Ball State squad. Skyler Hunter recorded hits from both sides of the plate for the 20th time at Purdue, finishing the night with three hits and three RBI. Charlie Nasuti connected for an RBI double in each of his first two at-bats. James Kulak, Cory Brooks and Austin Peterson teamed up for six innings of scoreless relief. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
May 10 – at No. 25 Illinois 5, Purdue 2 (12 Innings): The Boilermakers' first game in Champaign in over four years was also their longest of 2019 in both innings and time (4:14). Trent Johnson posted six consecutive zeros after giving up a run on a two-out single in the first inning, the first he had allowed in Big Ten play in more than a month. Both teams scored against an All-Big Ten closer in the ninth. Three consecutive bunts from Milo Beam, Ryan Howe and Tyler Powers helped give Purdue its first lead. But Jack Yalowitz delivered a game-tying, two-out RBI single in the bottom half of the frame. Yalowitz also made an impressive play in right field in the 12th to prevent Skyler Hunter from scoring the go-ahead run on Zac Fascia's two-out double off the wall in right center. Zac Taylor's three-run homer ended the game as the Illini scored all five of their runs with two outs. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
THE TOP 10
10.) April 16 – at Purdue 5, Butler 3: Cory Brooks made his collegiate debut in front of a national-TV audience on FS1. He worked a 1-2-3 top first and then escaped a bases-loaded jam to cap his planned two-inning start. Purdue pitchers worked five 1-2-3 innings and retired 14 of Butler's final 15 batters. Cole McKenzie and Ryan Howe each had a pair of run-scoring hits, with Howe's double in the eighth plating McKenzie from first base as the go-ahead run. McKenzie was safe at the plate thanks to a well-timed head first slide. Skyler Hunter's third-inning double extended his hit streak to 13 consecutive games and Purdue racked up 12 strikeouts on the mound. Full Recap / Box Score
9.) March 16 – Purdue 9, at Jacksonville State 5: The Boilermakers scored all nine of their runs in the fifth inning. In fact, it was the only inning of the series in which Purdue scored. But that big inning prevented a sweep. It was the program's biggest frame on the road since a memorable 10-run ninth in May 2012 at UCLA. Nick Evarts, Bryce Bonner, Tyler Powers and Evan Albrecht each had a pair of productive plate appearances during the rally. Evarts ignited the rally with a leadoff single and later blew the game open with a three-run triple into the right field corner. Patrick J. Smith retired 13 of 14 batters from the second through sixth innings, earning his first win as a Boilermaker with six frames of one-run ball. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
7.) May 18 – Ohio State 13, at Purdue 11: The Boilermakers' final game of the season was also its highest scoring – their 11 runs and the 24 combined were both season highs. Thirteen of the 33 combined hits on the day went for extra bases. Purdue rallied back from deficits of 8-0 and 9-1 to pull even at 9-9 in the fifth inning. But the Boilermakers could not overcome OSU's stadium-record six home runs, four coming in the first inning over the span of five batters. A three-run shot in the top of the sixth later broke the 9-9 tie. Senior Nick Evarts went out on a high note with a pair of RBI hits on a day in which he reached base safely three times and scored twice. Skyler Hunter made an impressive running catch before crashing into the wall in left center to end the eighth inning, taking away a potential fourth double of the day for OSU's top hitter Dominic Canzone. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
6.) March 24 – Purdue 9, at Northwestern 7: The Boilermakers opened Big Ten play with a series win on the road thanks to this rubber game win in Evanston. They overcame deficits of 3-1 and 7-6 despite stranding 15 runners on the base. Purdue had multiple base runners in every inning. Cole McKenzie and Zac Fascia both reached base safely five times. Fascia's double in the eighth inning was the key hit as the Boilermakers scored twice to turn 7-6 deficit into an 8-7 lead. Bo Hofstra worked two innings of hitless relief to earn his second save of the series. He was the final Purdue pitcher used in nine consecutive victories from March 20 to April 20. Nick Evarts had two hits in all three games of the series. With Sunday victories vs. NJIT and Northwestern in March, the Boilermakers won two rubber games in the same month for the first time since April 2011, a month that also featured a rubber game victory and series win at Northwestern. Full Recap / Box Score
5.) May 14 – at Purdue 4, Xavier 3: Zac Fascia stole the show in the BTN-televised midweek finale at Alexander. He channeled his inner Moses Malone, finishing the night 4-for-4 with all four runs scored. All four hits were to lead off an inning. Fascia doubled for a fourth-straight game and extended his hit streak to 15 consecutive games, making it the longest by a Boilermaker since 2011. He homered in the sixth inning and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a bases-loaded, two-out walk to pinch hitter Johnny Sage. Fascia finished just a triple shy of the cycle, but Ryan Howe did record a timely three-bagger. Howe ripped a two-out triple over the center fielder's head in the fourth inning to again plate Fascia. Six different Boilermakers recorded a strikeout on the mound as Purdue once against racked up 10-plus for the 23rd time. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
3.) Feb. 23 – Purdue 4, at No. 14 Texas 0: The Boilermakers' first victory of the season was an impressive shutout against a 2018 College World Series qualifier that was nearly a combined no-hitter. Andrew Bohm (5 IP, 1 H, 5 K), Matt Moore (hitless 6th) and Bo Hofstra (3 IP, 0 H, 3 K) teamed up to make Purdue the first visiting team to shut out the Longhorns at home since April 2016. The home team's only hit was a leadoff infield single to shortstop in the third inning that was a 50-50 call for the official scorer. The game remained scoreless until the ninth. Ben Nisle ripped a double off the wall in left field and Zac Fascia followed with the go-ahead single. The Boilermakers took advantage of a pair of errors in the inning while posting a four-run rally. But one run was all they really needed after Hofstra worked a 1-2-3 ninth while retiring UT's final six batters of the night. Purdue posted a win against a College World Series qualifier from the season prior for the first time since 2007 at Georgia. Full Recap / Box Score
1.) May 3 – at Purdue 2, Michigan State 0: Zac Fascia's two-run homer in the seventh inning accounted for all the scoring in another entertaining pitcher's duel at Alexander Field. With their third shutout of the season, the Boilermakers won for the fifth time in the last six games and were in a good place in the Big Ten Tournament chase with a 7-8 league record at the end of the night. While the rest of the conference season did not go as planned – an eight-game losing skid in league play followed – the Boilermakers followed their pitching and defense blueprint to a T on this night. Trent Johnson (6 1/3 IP, 3 H, 5 K), Matt Moore (3 K, retired all 6 batters) and Bo Hofstra teamed up to retire 26 of MSU's 30 batters, including the final 10, while posting the team's fourth no-walk game of the season. The Boilermakers played flawless defense behind them. Johnson extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak in Big Ten play to 14 2/3 and became just the seventh Purdue pitcher to record his 100th career strikeout as a sophomore. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's 2019 campaign was filled with its fair share of ups and downs while once again producing a number of memorable matchups.
Exciting finishes, pitcher's duels, big innings, double-figure strikeout totals, relief pitchers escaping jams and comebacks once again were common themes among the games that left the most indelible impression on the 2019 season. Ultimately, it went down as a rebuilding season after the 38-win success of 2018. But with five extra-innings affairs and six last at-bat wins, there was once again a lot of dramatic finishes.
The Boilermakers opened Big Ten play at 4-1 and posted their second-best win total (13) at home since Alexander Field opened in 2013. The valleys were a 1-10 start to the season against a challenge non-conference slate and a disappointing eight-game skid in Big Ten play to end the year. The Boilermakers also lost their first six games of April after closing March as winners of six of seven.
On two occasions, Purdue held the lead in all three games of a road series against a top-25 team that qualified for an NCAA Regional. But Southern Miss and Illinois both rallied and found a way to sweep those series. With a more veteran roster set to return for the 2020 campaign, the Boilermakers' expectation will be to win those types of series.
Looking back at the entire 54-game season reveals that some games were certainly more memorable than others. This annual list is a compilation of Purdue's most memorable games of 2019 as selected by the communications staff.
HONORABLE MENTION (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)
Feb. 15 – at No. 21 Southern Miss 7, Purdue 6 (10 Innings): Cole McKenzie hit the first pitch of the season back through the box for a single. That's always a nice way to open a new campaign. This four-hour marathon was a back-and-forth thriller. The Boilermakers turned a two-run deficit into a two-run lead, opening up a 6-4 lead in the eighth on a two-out RBI double from Owen Jansen, the sophomore's third double and fourth hit of the night. But USM scored a single run in the eighth, ninth and 10th to rally for the victory. Full Recap / Box Score
March 9 – Purdue 9, NJIT 8: The first of Purdue's two walk-off wins also featured a four-run comeback. NJIT broke a 3-3 tie with a four-run top of the seventh, but the Boilermakers quickly answered with a three-spot. Johnny Sage's sacrifice fly in the eighth gave Purdue its first lead of the day, but it took a bases-loaded walk to Cole McKenzie in the ninth to end the nightcap of the 19-inning doubleheader. Austin Peterson (9 of 20 batters faced) and Patrick J. Smith (7 of 17) combined for 16 strikeouts, tied for second most in program history at the time. Full Recap / Box Score
March 22 – Purdue 5, at Northwestern 2: The Boilermakers won their Big Ten opener for the sixth time in the last eight years. Chicagoland natives Patrick J. Smith and Ryan Howe delivered for Purdue in a return to their home state. Smith fanned seven over 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball, striking out the side in the bottom of the first after a rocky start. Howe's RBI single in the sixth broke a 2-2 tie. Evan Albrecht reached base safely in all four of his plate appearances. Skyler Hunter recorded his 50th career multi-hit game. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
March 23 – at Northwestern 2, Purdue 1: Trent Johnson struck out 10 of the 15 batters he faced over 4 1/3 innings of one-hit relief, accounting for the rare double-figure strikeout performance by a reliever. Nick Evarts delivered a bases-loaded RBI single in the ninth to make it a one-run game, but a double play ball on the next pitch made the Wildcats a winner in nail-biting fashion. Full Recap / Box Score
April 10 – at Indiana 7, Purdue 6 (10 Innings): The rivalry lived up to its billing once again, this time in a nationally televised game on FS1. Extra-base hits were big for both teams, with the Boilermakers scoring five of their runs on doubles and IU hitting a pair of home runs while building a 6-2 lead. Cole McKenzie delivered a two-out, two-run double in the seventh and later a two-out, game-tying double in the ninth to extend the game. Purdue pitchers struck out a program-record 18 batters over 9 1/3 innings. Cade Bunnell delivered the walk-off single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning. The senior finished the season with only three RBI. Full Recap / Box Score
April 13 – at Purdue 9, Iowa 5: The Boilermakers snapped a season-long six-game losing skid thanks in part to a five-run seventh inning. Purdue raced out to a 4-0 lead but Iowa roared back and went ahead 5-4 in the sixth inning. Zac Fascia's two-run triple and Tyler Power's two-out, two-run single were the keys hits of the big rally as seven consecutive Boilermakers put together a productive plate appearance. Powers turned a 5-3 double play in the fourth, sixth and eighth innings. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
April 20 – Purdue 6, at Rutgers 2: Trent Johnson struck out over six innings of two-hit ball in his first start of the season. It was a scoreless game until the seventh when Rutgers committed errors on consecutive sacrifice bunts. Five different Boilermakers drew a walk in a four-run ninth inning. Zac Fascia's two-out, two-run single blew it open. Dalton Parker returned to the mound, making his first relief appearance of the season after an injury had sidelined him since spring break. Full Recap / Box Score
April 26 – at Purdue 8, Southeast Missouri 3: Bryce Bonner and Milo Beam both homered to right field, with Bonner's opposite-field three-run shot in the fifth inning giving the Boilermakers their first lead. Trent Johnson faced only 16 batters through the first five innings in his first start of the season at Alexander. The Bullpen backed him up, retiring 10 of 11 batters faced as Purdue reached the 10-K mark on the mound for the 19th time. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
May 7 – at Purdue 9, Ball State 3: The Boilermakers closed their season-long nine-game homestand with a 6-3 record after topping a 30-win Ball State squad. Skyler Hunter recorded hits from both sides of the plate for the 20th time at Purdue, finishing the night with three hits and three RBI. Charlie Nasuti connected for an RBI double in each of his first two at-bats. James Kulak, Cory Brooks and Austin Peterson teamed up for six innings of scoreless relief. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
May 10 – at No. 25 Illinois 5, Purdue 2 (12 Innings): The Boilermakers' first game in Champaign in over four years was also their longest of 2019 in both innings and time (4:14). Trent Johnson posted six consecutive zeros after giving up a run on a two-out single in the first inning, the first he had allowed in Big Ten play in more than a month. Both teams scored against an All-Big Ten closer in the ninth. Three consecutive bunts from Milo Beam, Ryan Howe and Tyler Powers helped give Purdue its first lead. But Jack Yalowitz delivered a game-tying, two-out RBI single in the bottom half of the frame. Yalowitz also made an impressive play in right field in the 12th to prevent Skyler Hunter from scoring the go-ahead run on Zac Fascia's two-out double off the wall in right center. Zac Taylor's three-run homer ended the game as the Illini scored all five of their runs with two outs. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
THE TOP 10
10.) April 16 – at Purdue 5, Butler 3: Cory Brooks made his collegiate debut in front of a national-TV audience on FS1. He worked a 1-2-3 top first and then escaped a bases-loaded jam to cap his planned two-inning start. Purdue pitchers worked five 1-2-3 innings and retired 14 of Butler's final 15 batters. Cole McKenzie and Ryan Howe each had a pair of run-scoring hits, with Howe's double in the eighth plating McKenzie from first base as the go-ahead run. McKenzie was safe at the plate thanks to a well-timed head first slide. Skyler Hunter's third-inning double extended his hit streak to 13 consecutive games and Purdue racked up 12 strikeouts on the mound. Full Recap / Box Score
9.) March 16 – Purdue 9, at Jacksonville State 5: The Boilermakers scored all nine of their runs in the fifth inning. In fact, it was the only inning of the series in which Purdue scored. But that big inning prevented a sweep. It was the program's biggest frame on the road since a memorable 10-run ninth in May 2012 at UCLA. Nick Evarts, Bryce Bonner, Tyler Powers and Evan Albrecht each had a pair of productive plate appearances during the rally. Evarts ignited the rally with a leadoff single and later blew the game open with a three-run triple into the right field corner. Patrick J. Smith retired 13 of 14 batters from the second through sixth innings, earning his first win as a Boilermaker with six frames of one-run ball. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
8.) March 10 – Purdue 3, NJIT 2: Ryan Beard and Trent Johnson impressed on the mound in this rubber game win. Beard worked 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the longest outing of the season by a Boilermaker. Matt Moore and Johnson both escaped jams in the late innings. Moore left the bases loaded in the eighth and Johnson struck out NJIT's 6-7-8 hitters to close out the win, stranding the tying run at third base. Even after a wild pitch allowed a run to score, Johnson trusted Zac Fascia behind the plate and continued to throw his slider effectively while putting together one of the most impressive escape acts by a Purdue pitcher. Consecutive RBI singles from Fascia and Johnny Sage were the big hits in the eighth as the Boilermakers broke a 1-1 tie. The victorious team scored the decisive run in its last at-bat in all three games of the neutral-site series at Big League Camp in North Carolina, which was a late addition to the schedule. Purdue won consecutive one-run games against the same opponent for the first time since a March 2011 series at Tennessee-Martin. Full Recap / Box ScoreThe 9-run Inning...
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) March 16, 2019
?? Evarts Leadoff Single
?? Bonner Single
1? Powers Sac Fly
?? Albrecht RBI Single
?? Hunter Safe on E6
?? McKenzie RBI Single
?? Jansen HBP
4? Fascia Walked
?? Sage HBP
?? Evarts 3-Run Triple
4? Bonner Walked
2? Powers Squeeze Bunt
?? Albrecht Bunt Single pic.twitter.com/VqbK8YHlOD
7.) May 18 – Ohio State 13, at Purdue 11: The Boilermakers' final game of the season was also its highest scoring – their 11 runs and the 24 combined were both season highs. Thirteen of the 33 combined hits on the day went for extra bases. Purdue rallied back from deficits of 8-0 and 9-1 to pull even at 9-9 in the fifth inning. But the Boilermakers could not overcome OSU's stadium-record six home runs, four coming in the first inning over the span of five batters. A three-run shot in the top of the sixth later broke the 9-9 tie. Senior Nick Evarts went out on a high note with a pair of RBI hits on a day in which he reached base safely three times and scored twice. Skyler Hunter made an impressive running catch before crashing into the wall in left center to end the eighth inning, taking away a potential fourth double of the day for OSU's top hitter Dominic Canzone. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
6.) March 24 – Purdue 9, at Northwestern 7: The Boilermakers opened Big Ten play with a series win on the road thanks to this rubber game win in Evanston. They overcame deficits of 3-1 and 7-6 despite stranding 15 runners on the base. Purdue had multiple base runners in every inning. Cole McKenzie and Zac Fascia both reached base safely five times. Fascia's double in the eighth inning was the key hit as the Boilermakers scored twice to turn 7-6 deficit into an 8-7 lead. Bo Hofstra worked two innings of hitless relief to earn his second save of the series. He was the final Purdue pitcher used in nine consecutive victories from March 20 to April 20. Nick Evarts had two hits in all three games of the series. With Sunday victories vs. NJIT and Northwestern in March, the Boilermakers won two rubber games in the same month for the first time since April 2011, a month that also featured a rubber game victory and series win at Northwestern. Full Recap / Box Score
5.) May 14 – at Purdue 4, Xavier 3: Zac Fascia stole the show in the BTN-televised midweek finale at Alexander. He channeled his inner Moses Malone, finishing the night 4-for-4 with all four runs scored. All four hits were to lead off an inning. Fascia doubled for a fourth-straight game and extended his hit streak to 15 consecutive games, making it the longest by a Boilermaker since 2011. He homered in the sixth inning and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a bases-loaded, two-out walk to pinch hitter Johnny Sage. Fascia finished just a triple shy of the cycle, but Ryan Howe did record a timely three-bagger. Howe ripped a two-out triple over the center fielder's head in the fourth inning to again plate Fascia. Six different Boilermakers recorded a strikeout on the mound as Purdue once against racked up 10-plus for the 23rd time. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights
4.) March 29 – at Purdue 1, Penn State 0: Patrick J. Smith won a pitcher's duel with PSU ace Dante Biasi in the Big Ten home opener at Alexander Field. Smith struck out a career-high nine over seven-plus innings and dominated the five through nine portion of the Penn State lineup to the tune of 0-for-14. He got an assist in the eighth inning as fireman Trent Johnson retired the Nittany Lions' 2-3-4 hitters in order to strand an inherited runner at third, pitching over a leadoff triple in the process. Owen Jansen won a lefty-lefty matchup with Biasi in the fourth inning, delivering an RBI double for the game's lone run. Jansen was hit in the mouth with a pitch in his next plate appearance, but stayed in the game despite losing a tooth. Smith and Biasi would become teammates with the Burlington Royals of the Appalachian League in June after both southpaws were drafted by the Kansas City Royals. Full Recap / Box Score / HighlightsZac Fascia was 4-4 and scored all 4 runs for the Boilermakers. Hear what the junior had to say after the game. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/jYvgBttSzE
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 15, 2019
3.) Feb. 23 – Purdue 4, at No. 14 Texas 0: The Boilermakers' first victory of the season was an impressive shutout against a 2018 College World Series qualifier that was nearly a combined no-hitter. Andrew Bohm (5 IP, 1 H, 5 K), Matt Moore (hitless 6th) and Bo Hofstra (3 IP, 0 H, 3 K) teamed up to make Purdue the first visiting team to shut out the Longhorns at home since April 2016. The home team's only hit was a leadoff infield single to shortstop in the third inning that was a 50-50 call for the official scorer. The game remained scoreless until the ninth. Ben Nisle ripped a double off the wall in left field and Zac Fascia followed with the go-ahead single. The Boilermakers took advantage of a pair of errors in the inning while posting a four-run rally. But one run was all they really needed after Hofstra worked a 1-2-3 ninth while retiring UT's final six batters of the night. Purdue posted a win against a College World Series qualifier from the season prior for the first time since 2007 at Georgia. Full Recap / Box Score
2.) March 31 – at Purdue 2, Penn State 1 (10 Innings): The Sunday doubleheader was supposed to start at 1 p.m. The sun was out for much of the day but the real feel temperature didn't climb above the minimum threshold until the four o'clock hour, allowing for a 5 p.m. first pitch. It was another pitcher's duel as Purdue matched PSU's talented staff once again. Both teams scored a single run in the sixth inning, with Nick Evarts beating out a successful squeeze bunt for an RBI single. With the winning run on third and one out in the 10th inning, Penn State went to a five-man infield and two-man outfield. The defensive alignment helped turn Cole McKenzie's pop up into short right center into a successful sacrifice fly as pinch runner Seth Gergely scored the walk-off run. McKenzie became only the second Boilermaker of the decade with two walk-off RBI in the same season. Andrew Bohm (5 2/3 IP, 6 K), Trent Johnson (2 IP, 6 K) and Bo Hofstra (2 IP, 3 K) teamed up to strike out 15, which remarkably was only the third-highest total of the season for Purdue. The Boilermakers won each of their first two conference series of the year for the first time since the 2012 Big Ten championship season. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights.@AndrewBohm1 pitched the first 5 innings Saturday night as #Purdue shut out Texas 4-0. Check out his in-game interview live on @LonghornNetwork during today's game. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/cal1VXPC9u
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) February 24, 2019
1.) May 3 – at Purdue 2, Michigan State 0: Zac Fascia's two-run homer in the seventh inning accounted for all the scoring in another entertaining pitcher's duel at Alexander Field. With their third shutout of the season, the Boilermakers won for the fifth time in the last six games and were in a good place in the Big Ten Tournament chase with a 7-8 league record at the end of the night. While the rest of the conference season did not go as planned – an eight-game losing skid in league play followed – the Boilermakers followed their pitching and defense blueprint to a T on this night. Trent Johnson (6 1/3 IP, 3 H, 5 K), Matt Moore (3 K, retired all 6 batters) and Bo Hofstra teamed up to retire 26 of MSU's 30 batters, including the final 10, while posting the team's fourth no-walk game of the season. The Boilermakers played flawless defense behind them. Johnson extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak in Big Ten play to 14 2/3 and became just the seventh Purdue pitcher to record his 100th career strikeout as a sophomore. Full Recap / Box Score / Highlights