Triple play: Purdue gets hot on cold day to put Aces away

Thanks to a supply of runs that refused to go dry until the game was hurtling fast toward a Purdue win, the Boilers (26-15, 8-4 Big Ten) toppled Evansville (22-18, 10-5 Missouri Valley) on Wednesday.

The 10-6 ballgame developed most in the opening frames, when Purdue scored six runs to the Purple Aces’ two. The big inning, a four-run first, came when the Boilers’ first five hitters reached base. A steal, a triple, an Evansville error and a sac fly all contributed to plating four of them.

The Boilers scored a couple more in the second before chipping further onto their lead from there, scoring in every inning until the sixth. Freshman pitcher Cole Van Assen settled in on the mound, delivering 4.1 innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts.

Freshman first basemen Luke Gaffney and senior catcher Connor Caskenette led in the run-creation department, collecting two runs and RBIs each.

"It's great, we're really offense oriented," Caskanette said. "So it doesn't matter what they throw at us early, we know we can come back and do damage. We knew they were gonna throw a lot of off speed pitches, so just kind of stay back and let the ball travel."

Freshman pitcher keeps rolling

Van Assen’s ERA, at 2.75 after Wednesday’s outing, is within shouting distance of his number last year. The difference is that last year the cybersecurity major was in high school. What's got him here?

"Throwing strikes," head coach Greg Goff said. "He's able to put it in the zone and avoid walks."

The 6-foot-3 right-handed hurler was one of two prospects from Illinois to be named Collegiate Baseball High School All-Americans. He’s only issued eight walks this year in over 32 innings pitched, more than any on the roster with less free passes allowed.

"The main adjustment I made was my prepitch focus. I didn't really have to do it in high school. Now I really gotta lock in every pitch."

Van Assen’s ERA makes his teammates’ collective production look average, at 4.91, and the bats behind him make all of Purdue’s pitchers look like stars while bolstering their win-loss records in the process. Purdue’s opponents hold an ERA over 8, and the run support has helped the Boilers place two on the podium of Big Ten pitcher wins.

Van Assen, with his team leading run prevention but fourth-place innings count, is in a three-way tie for third on the team with three wins.

Wrapped up

Plenty felt the draw wane from the baseball that originally brought them to Alexander Field as the Boilers continued to widen the gap between themselves and the competition, especially once the concessions stand closed.

By the sixth inning, an entire little league team would have had its pick of seating. The lack of fan presence coincided with cold, dreary baseball, and how much one fueled the other is open to interpretation.

A familiar sequence played out in the bottom of the fifth. Gaffney and Caskennette had gotten on base, via the walk this time, and both made it into scoring position. Purdue was ahead 8-2.

That was when Evansville pitcher Drew Feiger’s command slipped further. He uncorked a pitch into the dirt, and the ball squirted a few feet past catcher Brendan Hord.

Once Hord sprang for it and the Purdue baserunners began dashing forward, the catcher merely held the white sphere up in his hand as if showing off a long-lost Easter egg. He plodded forward and tossed the thing back to his pitcher, never so much as setting his feet to throw down Purdue’s advancing runners.

2 realities

Despite the cold, which prompted many fans to don blankets, one team seemed to be having a nice time.

Purdue’s dugout stayed vocal into the game’s last gasps, chanting “right, left” at a retired Evansville hitter as he sauntered back to his dugout in the ninth inning. Earlier, the black-shirted line had voiced its displeasure with a call from their below-ground hangout, echoing “bullshit” through the night at the umpire.

"It's April, man, it's not supposed to be like this," Goff said. "But scoring runs will keep you warm. That'll keep the energy up, when the bats are going."

Seven Boilermakers collected a hit on the night, and nine had either a run or RBI. Contrast that with four and four on the other side, respectively, and there’s the reason for the volume disparity.

The Boilermakers will have the chance to continue what has been a 10-3 April when they travel up to Wrigley Field this weekend to take on Northwestern. They’ll be back in Alexander May 1.