Wabash pitching held Purdue to five hits over nine innings Wednesday night, but the Boilermakers made single runs in the second, fifth, and eighth innings stand up in a 3-1 victory.
Pete Schmith worked 4-1/3 innings as the starter for Wabash, holding Purdue to two runs on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first when he got a two-out grounder to short to end the inning. Andrew Swart was dominant in 1-2/3 innings of relief work, surrendering just one hit and a walk while striking out three Boilermakers. Chis Widup allowed only one hit and two walks with a strikeout in one scoreless inning of relief. Luke Zinsmaster pitched the eighth, giving up one run on a hit with two walks.
Purdue scored the first run in the second inning on an RBI single by Jonathan Lilly to score Payton Bieker, who reached base after being hit by a pitch and stole second base. David Blount drilled a pinch-hit double to open the fifth, scoring four batters later on a high infield chopper by Nick Overmyer. The Boilers' final run came after a leadoff triple by Jonathan Moore and a sacrifice fly by Blount in the eighth.
The Little Giants picked up six hits in the game, and scored their only run in the eighth inning. Joe Johnson started the rally with by working back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk. Senior Nathan Schrader, playing in front many family and friends that watched him play high school ball a few miles away at Central Catholic High School in Lafayette, slammed a double off the base of the left field wall to put runners at second and third. Chris Deig ended the shutout two batters later with a single through the left side to score Johnson.
"They (family and friends) were cheering for me those first two at bats when I grounded out and struck out on three pitches," Schrader said. "So I owed it to them to give them something to really cheer about.
"I invited a lot of people to come out to the game. At times it sounded like there were more Lafayette people cheering for me and the other guys from the area than there were fans here cheering for Purdue."
Wabash had a chance to tie the score on the next play when Tanner Coggins hustled down the line on a ground ball to try and beat out a double play, but the bang-bang play went in favor of Purdue to end the threat.
John Holm opened the ninth inning with a double, followed by a one-out walk to John Pennington to put the tying run aboard. Purdue closer Kevin Cahill picked up the save by ending the comeback effort with two strikeouts. The victory was the seventh in a row for the Boilermakers, moving them to 22-14 for the year.
Deig and Pennington each finished with two of the Little Giants' six hits, while Holm and Schrader accounted for the remaining two. Pennington and Johnson drew the only walks of the game for Wabash.
Despite the loss, the game was good preparation for a key two-game North Coast Athletic Conference series this Saturday for Wabash against Wittenberg.
"We saw great arms on the mound from Purdue tonight," Wabash head coach Cory Stevens said. "Our pitchers faced good hitters, so they have to stay sharp and stay focused throughout the game. Win or lose it was great preparation going into what is obviously a huge conference doubleheader."
Wabash (16-20) returns to action Thursday night with single nine-inning contest at the US SteelYard in Gary, Indiana against Elmhurst College. Saturday the Little Giants play Wittenberg at noon at Mud Hollow Field. A victory by Wabash in either game of the doubleheader puts the team in the NCAC Tourney for the second consecutive year.
Photos - (top right) Nathan Schrader dives back into the bag in a game from earlier in the season. Schrader had the only extra base hit of the game for Wabash with a double in the eighth.
(Bottom left) John Pennington makes a short flip to second. Pennington had two hits and reached base a third time with a walk in Wednesday's game against Purdue. Photo by Nancy Coggins.