Walk-Off Homer Sinks Huskers at Purdue

Purdue evened the series with a walk-off homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, as Nebraska suffered a 5-4 setback to the Boilermakers on Friday night at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.

Nebraska (27-27, 14-15 Big Ten) scored four runs on 10 hits and four errors, while Purdue (31-22, 11-18 Big Ten) recorded five runs on nine hits.

Dylan Carey led the Big Red at the plate, going 3-for-4. Robby Bolin went 2-for-4 with a double, and Devin Nunez had a 1-for-4 day with a two-run home run. Cayden Brumbaugh, Gabe Swansen, Case Sanderson and Hogan Helligso posted one hit apiece.

Ty Horn allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits across five innings of work. Will Walsh tossed 1.1 innings in relief, surrendering an unearned run on one hit with two strikeouts and a pair of walks.

Casey Daiss allowed a run on two hits with two punchouts in two innings of action. Jalen Worthley dropped to 2-1 on the year while giving up a run on one hit with one out recorded.

Riley Silva was hit by the pitch on an 0-1 count to begin the game, before Brumbaugh’s one-out bunt single had runners on first and second in the top of the first.

Swansen lined an RBI single through the left side to score Silva from second base and give the Big Red a 1-0 advantage in the opening frame.

The Boilermakers led off the bottom of the third inning with a single down the right-field line, but a pair of errant throws from the NU fielders on the play advanced the runner to third with no outs. A sacrifice fly lifted down the left-field line allowed the Boilermakers to tie the game at one in the bottom of the third.

Purdue grabbed a 2-1 lead with a leadoff solo homer to center to begin the bottom of the fourth inning.

The Huskers answered with a run on two hits in the top of the fifth to lock the game back up at two. Consecutive singles from Helligso and Bolin had runners on first and third with no outs, setting up Silva’s sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Helligso to tie the game at two apiece.

Nebraska plated a pair of runs on two hits in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead over the Boilermakers. Carey began the inning with a first-pitch single up the middle, before Nunez blasted a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right-center field for a 426-foot two-run homer that gave the Big Red the lead in the seventh inning.

A pair of leadoff walks and a throwing error had runners on first and third with no outs for the Boilermakers in the bottom of the seventh. Purdue trimmed NU’s lead in half with a sacrifice fly lifted to left field.

With runners on first and second and one out in the bottom of the seventh, the teams exited the field and the game went into a weather delay.

Following a delay of nearly two hours and 15 minutes, Daiss induced a pair of groundouts to send the Huskers into the eighth inning with a 4-3 lead.

Sanderson reached with a two-out triple to the wall in center field but was left stranded at third to keep NU’s lead at one. Daiss worked around a two-out single in the bottom half of the inning to preserve Nebraska’s 4-3 advantage through eight innings.

The Boilermakers had the tying run at second after a one-out double down the left-field line in the bottom of the ninth inning. A second flyout in the inning had Purdue down to their final out, before a first-pitch two-run homer was blasted over the left-center field wall to give the Boilermakers a 5-4 walk-off victory.

Nebraska and Purdue conclude the series tomorrow afternoon at Alexander Field. First pitch between the Big Red and Boilermakers is set for 1 p.m. CT on B1G+.