ROSEMONT, Ill. – Luke Gaffney hit safely in all four games while batting .500 for the second weekend in a row, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors again to become the first player in league history to win the award consecutively to open a season.
Freshman of the Week was added to the conference's weekly awards program to begin the 2011 season. Ohio State's Josh Dezse (2011), Maryland's Jason Savacool (2021) and Rutgers' Trevor Cohen (2023) all won Freshman of the Week twice over the first three weeks of the season, but Gaffney is the first to be a repeat honoree to begin a campaign.
Gaffney helped the Boilermakers take three of four in a neutral-site series for the second weekend in a row, finishing the four-game set vs. George Mason 8-for-16 with his first two collegiate home runs and a team-high six RBI. While hitting safely in the first eight games of his collegiate career, he's 17-for-34 with eight extra-base hits – leading the team with 17 hits and 13 runs scored.
From the cleanup spot in the lineup, Gaffney homered in his first at-bat of games 1 and 3, both Purdue wins. His two-out, two-run homer in his first at-bat of the series allowed the Boilermakers to quickly respond after GMU had gone up 3-0 in the top of the first. Purdue went on to win the opener 7-4 and it marked the lone game of the weekend in which the Patriots held him to just one hit.
Sunday's game was tied 1-1 until the fifth inning when the Boilermakers blew it open with their third 10-run frame of the Greg Goff era (2020-present). Gaffney's RBI double opened the scoring in the extended frame, plating the go-ahead run. Two innings earlier, he had tied the game with an RBI single.
Gaffney scored three times in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, extending his runs scored streak to six consecutive games before it was snapped Sunday.
Logan Sutter (8) and Camden Gasser (6) have joined Gaffney in hitting safely in every game they've played to begin their Purdue careers. That trio is a combined 41-for-86 (.476) during Purdue's 6-2 start, accounting for 47% of the team's total hits.
Against George Mason, there were five Boilermakers with at least seven plate appearances that reached base safely more often that they were out. Gaffney (.529 OBP) and Gasser (.588) were joined by Keenan Taylor (.857), Aaron Dolney (.714) and Keenan Spence (.529) on the list. They led the way as Purdue posted a .437 team OBP in the series and sports a .422 mark over the first eight games.
Indiana's Devin Taylor was the last player around the conference to repeat as Big Ten Freshman of the Week, claiming the award on March 20 and 27 last season en route to being the league's Freshman of the Year. In Purdue history, only Jordan Minch (2013) was previously a multi-time Freshman of the Week honoree. Minch was a two-year weekend starting pitcher for the Boilermakers and the first lefthander to start on Opening Day until Jordan Morales did it this year.
Freshman of the Week was added to the conference's weekly awards program to begin the 2011 season. Ohio State's Josh Dezse (2011), Maryland's Jason Savacool (2021) and Rutgers' Trevor Cohen (2023) all won Freshman of the Week twice over the first three weeks of the season, but Gaffney is the first to be a repeat honoree to begin a campaign.
Gaffney helped the Boilermakers take three of four in a neutral-site series for the second weekend in a row, finishing the four-game set vs. George Mason 8-for-16 with his first two collegiate home runs and a team-high six RBI. While hitting safely in the first eight games of his collegiate career, he's 17-for-34 with eight extra-base hits – leading the team with 17 hits and 13 runs scored.
From the cleanup spot in the lineup, Gaffney homered in his first at-bat of games 1 and 3, both Purdue wins. His two-out, two-run homer in his first at-bat of the series allowed the Boilermakers to quickly respond after GMU had gone up 3-0 in the top of the first. Purdue went on to win the opener 7-4 and it marked the lone game of the weekend in which the Patriots held him to just one hit.
Sunday's game was tied 1-1 until the fifth inning when the Boilermakers blew it open with their third 10-run frame of the Greg Goff era (2020-present). Gaffney's RBI double opened the scoring in the extended frame, plating the go-ahead run. Two innings earlier, he had tied the game with an RBI single.
Gaffney scored three times in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader, extending his runs scored streak to six consecutive games before it was snapped Sunday.
Logan Sutter (8) and Camden Gasser (6) have joined Gaffney in hitting safely in every game they've played to begin their Purdue careers. That trio is a combined 41-for-86 (.476) during Purdue's 6-2 start, accounting for 47% of the team's total hits.
Against George Mason, there were five Boilermakers with at least seven plate appearances that reached base safely more often that they were out. Gaffney (.529 OBP) and Gasser (.588) were joined by Keenan Taylor (.857), Aaron Dolney (.714) and Keenan Spence (.529) on the list. They led the way as Purdue posted a .437 team OBP in the series and sports a .422 mark over the first eight games.
Indiana's Devin Taylor was the last player around the conference to repeat as Big Ten Freshman of the Week, claiming the award on March 20 and 27 last season en route to being the league's Freshman of the Year. In Purdue history, only Jordan Minch (2013) was previously a multi-time Freshman of the Week honoree. Minch was a two-year weekend starting pitcher for the Boilermakers and the first lefthander to start on Opening Day until Jordan Morales did it this year.