SUGAR LAND, Texas – Purdue Baseball carried a 3-0 lead into the seventh inning, but Portland rallied for nine unanswered runs to take the season opener 9-3 Friday at Constellation Field.
The Boilermakers (0-1) issued 13 free passes (11 walks, 2 HBP), including five in the top of the eighth as the Pilots scored four times to take their first lead of the night. Portland (1-0) blew it open with a five-spot in the ninth.
Purdue lost its season opener for the first time since 2019, ending a six-game win streak.
Sam Flores and Westin Boyle both had two hits in their first games as Boilermakers. Boyle (SS) became the program’s first true freshman to start a season opener since Ben Nisle (LF) in 2018. Harry Shipley (2015) was Purdue’s last freshman to start game 1 at shortstop.
Starter Cole Van Assen posted four zeros while pitching into the fifth inning. He has not allowed an earned run in 13 2/3 career innings at Constellation Field.
Aaron Manias and CJ Richmond both connected for a double in the second inning to account for Purdue’s first hits and run of the season. Boyle’s leadoff double over the left fielder’s head the following frame led to another run.
Left fielder Avery Moore and second baseman Dylan Drake both made elite diving plays to take hits away from the Pilots.
Jake Kramer inherited a bases loaded jam with no outs in the seventh inning. He allowed only one run to score to keep Purdue in front 3-1. But walks to the 8- and 9-hole hitters the following frame set the stage for Portland’s go-ahead rally.
Sergio DeCello nearly tied the game with a clutch knock as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth, but first baseman Nolan Miller made a diving play in the hole and flipped to the pitcher covering the bag for a bang-bang out.
Thomas Howard worked two innings of hitless relief as the first Boilermaker out of the bullpen this season. He stranded runners on the corners in the fifth inning and pitched over a leadoff walk the following frame.
Trevor Kester-Johnson, Jackson Greer and Noah Filer all retired the lone batters they faced in their team debuts for Purdue.
Game 2 of the series Saturday has been moved up to noon ET.
