Huskers Erase Early Deficit at Purdue
Nebraska mounted its largest comeback since 2010 to pick up an 11-9 win at Purdue on Thursday night at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Huskers trailed 8-0 after three innings, making it the Big Red’s largest come-from-behind win since rallying from a 10-run deficit against North Dakota on March 30, 2010.
Nebraska (27-26, 14-14 Big Ten) scored 11 runs on 14 hits and an error, while Purdue (30-22, 10-18 Big Ten) totaled nine runs, 11 hits and two errors.
Dylan Carey was 2-for-4 with a homer, three RBI and two runs scored. Cayden Brumbaugh drove in three runs on a 2-for-6 night with a double. Riley Silva, Joshua Overbeek and Case Sanderson pieced together two-hit performances.
Robby Bolin drove in two runs and had a hit, while Gabe Swansen and Devin Nunez had RBI doubles and Hogan Helligso recorded a hit.
Tucker Timmerman surrendered eight runs on six hits across two innings. Caleb Clark, Pryce Bender and Grant Cleavinger teamed up to deal four scoreless innings in relief. Drew Christo improved to 2-2 on the season after allowing an unearned run on two hits in 1.2 innings of action.
Luke Broderick picked up his 11th save of the season, climbing to eighth on the single-season chart at Nebraska. The junior didn’t allow a run on a pair of hits across 1.1 innings on Thursday night.
Purdue scored five runs behind three hits in the bottom of the second to sprint out to a five-run advantage. The Boilermakers had the bases loaded with no outs after a single, walk and plunked batter. A second consecutive hit batter broke the scoreless deadlock, while an RBI single up the middle and a sacrifice fly to center had Purdue out front 3-0.
The Boilermakers stretched the lead to five in the second with a two-RBI single through the right side.
Purdue tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third to grow the lead to 8-0. A leadoff homer to begin the inning, followed by two straight singles, extended the lead to seven. A sacrifice bunt with runners on first and third and one out brought home a third run in the inning and had the Boilermakers ahead 8-0 through three innings.
The Huskers responded with six runs on four hits and an error in the top of the fourth to climb back within 8-6. Carey scored the Big Red’s first run of the day with a leadoff homer over the wall in left-center field. Will Jesske reached on a fielding error, and Sanderson was plunked on full count to put runners on first and second with no outs.
A one-out RBI single to left field plated Jesske from second, while Silva was hit by the pitch on 0-1 count to load the bases. Brumbaugh cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to right field, before Swansen laced a first-pitch RBI double to the gap in left-center field to score Brumbaugh from second and bring the Huskers within two runs.
Nebraska had runners on the corners with one out in the top of the fifth after Sanderson singled through the right side and Helligso reached on a fielding error. Bolin laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Sanderson from third, and Helligso scored from second on Silva’s two-out RBI double to center field that locked the game at eight.
Bender, Cleavinger and Christo combined to keep the Boilermakers off the scoreboard in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to send an 8-8 game into the top of the eighth inning.
The Husker offense plated three runs on three hits in the eighth to grab an 11-8 lead. Overbeek led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a foul out. Swansen was hit by the pitch, before Jaron Cotton entered the game as a pinch-runner and moved to second on a passed ball.
Carey came through for the Huskers, ripping a two-RBI single through the left side to bring home Overbeek and Cotton and give Nebraska a 10-8 advantage. Nunez scored Carey from first on a pinch-hit RBI double to the wall in center field, extending NU’s lead to 11-8.
A single and an NU error in the bottom of the eighth led to a two-out RBI single through the right side that brought Purdue within 11-9 through eight innings.
Broderick worked around a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth to preserve Nebraska’s 11-9 win in the series opener on Thursday night.
Nebraska and Purdue are scheduled to continue the series tomorrow at Alexander Field. First pitch between the Big Red and Boilermakers is set for 3 p.m. CT on B1G+.