Walk-off: Richmond Powers Comeback, Boyle Wins It

ROUND ROCK, Texas – CJ Richmond’s 400-foot three-run homer flipped the game’s momentum and Westin Boyle delivered a walk-off single in the ninth inning as Purdue Baseball rallied for a 6-5 victory vs. Baylor on Saturday at the Round Rock Classic.

The Boilermakers (3-3) were part of a walk-off finish for the second day in a row and won in walk-off fashion for the second Saturday in a row. Purdue has enjoyed two walk-off victories in a week’s time for the first time since March 2022.

The Boilermakers trailed 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth when Richmond connected for a towering 404-foot home run to the berm beyond the right field wall. Richmond also drove in the game-tying run with a two-out RBI single the following frame. Defensively at first base, he saved multiple runs by making a diving catch on a line drive with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth.

Purdue’s five-run comeback marked the largest deficit overcome in the history of the Round Rock Classic. The Boilermakers also overcame a five-run deficit – after trailing 8-3 to open the fifth inning – in last year’s Easter Sunday victory at Penn State.
 
After bunting for a base hit for the second time on the day, Brandon Rogers scored the game-winning run on Boyle’s ninth-inning single up the middle. Sam Flores, Rogers and Boyle all posted three-hit games in the victory. They were a combined 9-for-13 with five runs scored. Boyle had three hits for the second day in a row and is 11-for-18 dating back to Sunday.

Boyle, Flores and Richmond teamed up for three consecutive hits in both the sixth and seventh innings. Richmond’s home run was his second of the season. Entering the frame, Purdue had had seven base runners on the day but two of those – both of the leadoff variety – had been eliminated by double plays. Richmond’s home run was the Boilermakers’ lone extra-base hit of the day, but the Boilers managed to knock around the Baylor (4-2) bullpen for six runs on 10 hits over 3 1/3 innings after being shut out by starter Ethan Calder, who has worked 8 2/3 scoreless frames to begin his senior season.

The Purdue bullpen posted four consecutive zeros over the second half of the game to set the stage for the comeback. Graham Kollen and Joe Trenerry each worked a scoreless inning, with Trenerry’s 1-2-3 top of the seventh vs. the Bears’ 3-4-5 hitters helping to keep the momentum in the Boilermaker dugout after Richmond’s home run.

Jackson Greer and Trevor-Kester Johnson teamed up for a zero in the eighth inning, with an assist from Richmond’s diving catch at first base. Jake Kramer worked a scoreless ninth and earned his first win as a Boilermaker. Catcher Jackson Bessette also aided his battery mates by throwing out base stealers in the sixth and ninth innings.

Twenty Boilermakers saw action for the second day in a row, including five players getting at-bats off the bench. Among them, Ali Banks singled twice to register his first hits as a Boilermaker. Quincy Malbrough executed a sacrifice bunt to advance Rogers into scoring position in the ninth inning in his lone plate appearance of the day.

Eli Anderson’s 17-game hit streak (dating back to April 2025) came to end with an 0-for-2 day before he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. Anderson reached base on a dropped fly ball in left field to begin the game. Richmond remains the only Boilermaker that has hit safely in each of the first six games this season.

Purdue posted its first victory vs. a Big 12 Conference team since February 2019 at Texas.

No. 20 Southern Miss defeated No. 11 Oregon State in the nightcap of Saturday’s action at the Round Rock Classic. The Boilermakers square off against OSU on Sunday at noon ET in their final game of the season-opening seven-game road trip in Texas.