Purdue baseball exacted some revenge on Iowa at the Big Ten Tournament. and the Boilermakers’ reward is a game against the No. 1 team in the country.
Purdue defeated Iowa 8-1 to advance out of the double-elimination portion of the tournament in Omaha. The Boilermakers were seemingly in good position to earn a top-four Big Ten tourney seed and maybe secure an NCAA Tournament bid before Iowa swept them in Des Moines last week.
Now Purdue advances to face No. 1 UCLA in Friday’s 2 p.m. quarterfinals. It did not face the Bruins in the regular season. Still sitting on the NCAA Tournament bubble with 37 wins, the Boilers would help their regional case significantly with an upset of the team with the top RPI in the nation.
“Yesterday, that game was very close, and we fought hard, and that put us in a good mood for today,” Dylan Drake said on Big Ten Network, referencing Wednesday’s 3-1 late comeback victory over Illinois.
Purdue trailed 1-0 in the fourth inning before Drake stepped up with runners at first and second and nobody out. He said coach Greg Goff initially gave him the sign to bunt, but then told him to swing away after a first-pitch ball.
Drake laced a two-run triple to the gap in right-center field, then came around to score on Westin Boyle’s sacrifice fly.
In the sixth, Park Tudor grad CJ Richmond led off with a bunt single against the shift and later beat the throw home on Doyle’s sacrifice squeeze bunt. Aaron Manias later doubled home both Doyle and Drake.
After allowing double-digit runs in all three games at Iowa last week and 39 in total, Purdue pitchers allowed only an unearned run on six hits Thursday. Austin Klug started and pitched into the fifth, and Jarvis Evans went the rest of the way for the relief victory.
“We know we’re good,” Klug said on BTN. “We know we can come out and put up some zeroes for the squad.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue baseball earns opportunity vs. No. 1 UCLA in Big Ten Tournament
Reporting by Nathan Baird, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
