May 16, 2015
| 3 | 7 |
| Alexander Field | West Lafayette, Ind. | |
| POST GAME LINKS |
| Game 1: Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) |
| VIDEO: Postgame Comments (coming soon) |
| FINAL STATISTICS |
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue defeated Penn State, 7-3, in the first game of a scheduled Big Ten baseball doubleheader Saturday at Alexander Field, but inclement weather returned to end the second game four outs shy of becoming an official game. The Nittany Lions led, 4-3.
Penn State concludes the 2015 season with an 18-30 overall record and 6-16 mark in the Big Ten. Purdue finishes at 20-34 overall and 6-17 in conference.
In the lone completed game, senior second baseman Taylor Skerpon (Sayre, Pa.) went 3-for-5 and senior third baseman Ryky Smith (York, Pa.) drove in all three Nittany Lion runs, but Purdue rallied from a 3-0 deficit and scored six runs in the eighth inning to win.
Smith hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning for the game's first run and doubled down the right field line in the fourth to drive in two runs for the early 3-0 advantage.
However, RHP Joe Eichmann (3-2) struck out nine and allowed just three hits and a walk after entering in the fourth for Purdue, pitching the final 5 2/3 innings, and the Boilermaker offense scored seven unanswered runs.
Catcher James Jewell drove in the first run in the fifth inning. It was centerfielder Jeff Evak who scored, as he singled to lead off the inning to break up LHP Taylor Lehman's no-hit bid. Purdue then broke the game open in the bottom of the eighth, scoring six runs on four hits with the aid of two walks, a hit batsman and two wild pitches. Evak drove in the go-ahead run and catcher Jack Pichotti capped the scoring with a two-RBI single.
LHP Jack Anderson (4-5) (Evanston, Ill.) suffered the loss, allowing three runs on a hit, walk and hit batsman in 2/3 of an inning pitched. He struck out one. Lehman went 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
In the second game, Penn State trailed 3-0 after three innings, but scored four runs in the top of the fourth, starting with a deep home run by left fielder Greg Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) The game was halted in the top of the fifth inning though, so none of the stats will count.
Head coach Rob Cooper will wrap up the season Monday from 6-7 p.m. with Brian Tripp on "The Inside Pitch with Rob Cooper." The show will air live from Lettermans on State College's ESPN Radio 1450 and GoPSUsports.com.