After six frustrating innings at the plate, Indiana scores ten the final three to blowout the Boilers, while the return of the Foley/Bothwell pitching combo quiets the Purdue bats.
By Carl James @jovian34 May 5th, 2024
Purdue lefty Luke Wagner had a very good game plan that he executed well for 18 batters. He is primarily a breaking ball pitcher from the left side. Unlike some previous soft-tossing lefties that have given Hoosiers fits, Wagner also did a really good job using his low-90’s fastball. He was able to hit low corners on both sides of the plate to keep the Hoosiers on fastball timing and then get a lot of weak contact from his more effective breaking ball.
Indiana Hoosiers 10, Purdue Boilermakers 2:
Box Score
Hoosier ace righty Connor Foley was back on the bump after a few weeks with back tightness. Foley looked pretty sharp command all of his pitches and having success with his power fastball. He was very efficient getting through 4.0 innings in only 58 pitches. He allowed one runs with two hits and four free passes.
The only baserunner against Wagner in the first six innings was a lead-off single by Devin Taylor in the top of the fourth inning. It was a hard fought at-bat, but a fantastic defensive play by Wagner turned two to end the inning and wipe away the base runner.
Graduate Student lefty Ty Bothwell took over in the fifth inning and got out of a jam with a two-out groundout stranding a pair in scoring position. Bothwell went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth to keep the Hoosiers within one.
Wagner got Taylor to groundout to start the 7th. He got 19 outs in the first 19 batters. Pyne and Nick Mitchell then both hit opposite field singles. Purdue goes to the bullpen with righty Jackson Dannelly who had been Purdue’s best reliever at not allowing inherited runners to score. That would not be the case on Saturday. Tyler Cerny ripped a liner right at the first baseman for the second out, but then a hit parade ensued. Joey Brenczewski chopped a ball through the left side to tie it up. Brock Tibbitts fell behind 0-2, but ripped a single to left to give Indiana the lead. Then Carter Mathison busted it open with a 3-run blast over the right-center field fence. Jake Stadler then hit a double off his former team and Jasen Oliver drives him in the a double to make it a 5-run lead.
Bothwell would go the rest of the way allowing only one unearned run to get his sixth win of the season. Indiana would score four insurance runs in the top of the ninth. In the last three inning Indiana got a dozen of their 13 hits on the day and all 10 runs. The win puts the Hoosiers in sole possession of 4th place in the B1G standings, just 1 game behind Nebraska, Illinois, and Purdue for first place. Indiana and Purdue will play a rubber match Sunday at 1pm to decide the series and continue the battle for the B1G title.