Bucs roll past Purdue, 12-2, to clinch the series - East Tennessee State University (2024)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (April 21, 2024)– The ETSU baseball team bounced back in a big way on Sunday afternoon as it rolled past Purdue by a score of 12-2 in seven innings to clinch the series against the Boilermakers. Sunday's win boosts ETSU's record to 24-13 on the season and the Bucs have now won four their last five games.

Balance was key for the Buccaneer offense in Sunday's win. All nine players in ETSU's starting lineup recorded at least one hit and eight of the nine knocked in a run and/or scored a run. Cody Miller reached base three times in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate, and he slugged his second home run of the season. Ashton King (2-for-4, three RBI, two runs scored) and Noah Gent (2-for-4, two RBI) both had multiple hits and drove in more than one run to help fuel the win.

Freshman Michael Harpster was stellar on the mound for the Bucs. Harpster pitched all seven innings and held a Purdue offense that scored 25 runs in the first two games of the series to two runs on Sunday. Harpster worked around six hits and a pair of walks in picking up his team-leading sixth win of the spring. Harpster, who is now 6-1 this season, also struck out eight in the victory.

After a scoreless first inning, Purdue would strike first on Sunday with a two-run home run. It was Purdue's eighth home run of the series and gave them the first lead of the contest. Harpster went on to retire the next two Boilermakers to keep the deficit at two runs.

The turning point in Sunday's game came in the fourth inning. ETSU's first nine batters in the fourth inning reached base. With all the traffic on the basepaths, Noah Webb and Blake Jacklin both drove in runs with singles to erase Purdue's lead and tie the game at 2-2. A single from King re-loaded the bases for the top of ETSU's order. Nick Iannantone, Tommy Barth, and Cameron Sisneros all showed great patience as all three players worked bases loaded walks to give the Bucs their first lead of the day. Purdue, which made a pair of pitching changes in the fourth, looked like it may limit the damage there but a two-run single by Gent brought two more runs home and ETSU led by five, 7-2, heading to the bottom of the fourth.

The Buccaneers would add to their lead in the fifth and sixth innings. A two-out error by Purdue paired with a wild pitch led into a RBI double for Iannantone in the fifth. Miller would connect on an opposite-field solo home run in the sixth to add on to the Buccaneer lead. Following Miller's home run, walks by Jackson Green and Webb gave the Bucs yet another scoring chance. The third Boilermaker error of the day extended the inning again for ETSU. King took advantage of the extra chance and cleared the bases with a three-run double to make the score 12-2 ETSU.

Like previously mentioned, Harpster was stellar for ETSU on Sunday. Outside of the two-run home run in the second, Harpster was perhaps his most dialed in with Boilermakers on base. Purdue had nine at-bats with runners in scoring position on Sunday and Harpster did not allow a hit in those situations (0-for-9).

ETSU will be back in action on Tuesday when it visits Appalachian State in another non-conference matchup. First pitch for Tuesday's game is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

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