Indiana Baseball Falls 7-4 in Series Opener at Purdue

Purdue scored five combined runs in the seventh and eighth innings of Friday's series opener against Indiana to secure a 7-4 win over its in-state rivals at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Boilermakers' 11th straight win in Big Ten play moved them into sole possession of first place in the conference standings, thanks to Illinois' 7-5 home loss to Ohio State on Friday.

Both teams scored in the first inning, as Indiana's redshirt freshman Joey Brenczewski snuck a ground ball just past Purdue's diving shortstop Camden Gasser for an RBI single.

But the Hoosiers found themselves in early trouble in the bottom half, when starting pitcher Brandon Keyster walked the first batter, then committed a throwing error. Purdue catcher Connor Caskenette roped a double down the left field line in the next at-bat, and the Boilermakers were on top 2-1 after the first inning.

Drew Buhr relieved Keyster with one out in the first inning, and he settled in nicely to keep the Hoosiers in the game. Buhr's final line was 4.2 innings pitched, five hits, zero runs, zero walks and three strikeouts.

Indiana shortstop Tyler Cerny tied the game 2-2 in the sixth inning with an RBI double down the right field line, scoring Devin Taylor.

But Purdue answered right back in the seventh. Indiana's Brayden Risedorph relieved Buhr in the sixth and had a clean inning, but he struggled with command in the seventh, walking two of the first three batters. Cerny had a chance to turn an unassisted double play and get out of the inning, but his throw was too late.

Caskenette, again, was the hero for Purdue, singling up the middle to score Gasser and Gill and give Purdue a 4-2 lead in the seventh. Taylor homered in the eighth to make it a one-run game, but the Hoosiers' defensive miscues continued in the eighth.

Risedorph allowed a single to the first batter, then pinch runner Logan Malott stole second. After a strikeout, Breck Nowik took first base on a catcher's interference call. Purdue extended its lead to 5-3 after a throwing error from Indiana second baseman Brandon Burckel.

That was it for Risedorph, who was credited with the loss after allowing three hits, three earned runs, two unearned runs, two walks and two strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

Indiana relief pitcher Julian Tonghini's first batter was Couper Cornblum, who bunted for a single to load the bases. Tonghini threw a wild pitch to let in a Purdue run, then he walked two of the next three batters to give Purdue a 7-3 lead in the eighth.

Indiana center fielder Carter Mathison drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth, but Brock Tibbitts got picked off at second base by Purdue pitcher Aaron Suval to end the game.

Coach Jeff Mercer and the Hoosiers fell to 25-19-1 overall and 10-6 in conference play after Friday's 7-4 loss. Now two games back of Purdue for first place in the Big Ten standings, Indiana will need to win Saturday and Sunday in West Lafayette to even things up. It's a tight race at the top of the Big Ten, with just two games separating Purdue, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind. and can be seen on BTN-plus. Indiana right-handed pitcher Connor Foley (4-1, 4.74 ERA) is set to take on Purdue left-handed pitcher Luke Wagner (7-0, 5.04 ERA).