Baseball Opens Season with Two Wins in Texas

The college baseball kickoff was a modestly successful one for Purdue this weekend. The Boilermakers aw a bullpen implosion cost them the season opener forst the first time since 2019, but the team was able to recover with a pair of wins to take the series.

Game 1: Portland 9, Purdue 3

The final score may not indicate a close game, but this is one where Purdue was dominant through six innings. Cole Van Assen went four innings and struck out five, leaving the game in the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead thanks to a second iinning RBI double from CJ Richmond and a third inning RBI single from Sam Flores. Purdue added its third run in the fifth thanks to a wild pitch, but the Pilots finally got on the board in the seventh with a sac fly.

Jake Kramer entered the game in the seventh with the bases loaded and no one out and managed to escape with the lead, but a rough eighth inning with four walks eventually lead to three runs. The Pilots then blew it open with five in the ninth to win going away.

Game 2: Purdue 2, Portland 1

It took a while for Purdue to get on the board in this one, but a two-run single from Aaron Manias with two outs in the ninth gave the Boilers a walk-off win. Zach Erdman pitched eight scoreless innings before Austin Klug was tagged for a run in the ninth on two hits and a sac fly.

Down 1-0, Richmond got a one-out single and Jimmy Dionne drew a walk before each moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch. Another walk and a strikeout brough Manias to the plate, and he delivered the game-winner on a single to right on a 1-0 count.

Game 3: Purdue 10, Portland 7

As often happens, the Sunday game got a little crazy but Weston Boyle had a banner day, going 4 for 4 with three RBI. His double in the seventh tied the game at 5-5 and he later scored on an error to give the Boilers the lead for good. He later added a two-run single as part of a four-run eighth inning that broke the game open.

Zach Zychowski had two RBI in the game, but it was the bullpen that did a bangup job after Jarvis Evans gave up four runs on four hits through the first five innings. Thomas Howard officially got the win and Jackson Greer collected his first career save by getting the last three outs after the Pilots scored twice in the ninth off of Kramer.

Purdue will stay in Texas this week and play a midweek game Wednesday night at Rice, who went 2-1 this past weekend against Northwestern. Two days later Purdue will face Southern Miss in Round Rock, Texas to open the Round Rock Classic. The Boilers will face Baylor on Saturday and Oregon State on Sunday. Southern Miss started the season in the top 25 and took two of three this weekend from UC-Santa Barbara. Baylor swept New Mexico State and Oregon State, whow as ranked 12th this past week and played in the College World Series last year, beat Arizona and Stanford, but lost to Michigan.