Bryce Bonner stayed as patient as possible.

With at-bats coming sporadically — it’s frequently the life of a backup catcher, who gets only the occasional spot start or late pitch hit opportunity — the junior couldn’t find the rhythm to get his batting average into a respectable range.

Couldn’t even get it above .100.

And that was particularly annoying, given that Bonner was putting together quality ABs, only to often see the result be a scorched line drive directly at a defender. And so by early April, the former freshman All-American was hitting .091.

But then Mark Wasikowski made a change; disregarding his inclination to keep the backup catcher available on the bench — and having freshman Blake Schmitt as an option, too — the third-year coach started to put Bonner in as Purdue’s DH. And with more regular at-bats, the hits started to come.

“It was frustrating, but our coaches always say to stick with the process and keep having good swings and putting together good at-bats and sooner or later, the hits will fall and they did,” Bonner said. “I’m just glad to get in the lineup every day and can show my tools.”

Since the finale at Nebraska April 7, Bonner has made 14 consecutive starts, at either DH or behind the plate, getting at least a hit in 10. During that span, he’s hitting .265 (13 of 49) with 13 RBI, raising his overall average to .195. He has two homeruns, as well. In the first two months of the season, he had only one run driven in, and that came in the opener Feb. 16 at Southern Miss.

“I think he definitely stayed patient,” teammate Tyler Powers said. “His average didn’t show what type of a hitter he is. He’s a really good hitter, but a lot of the outs that he had were screaming line drives, ones that were hit really hard. … He’s stayed calm and confident, and from that he’s been able to succeed.”

Bonner stayed ready. The Allen, Texas native is no stranger to the weight room, hitting the weights as often as possible. He carries himself as a pro there, in the dugout, in batting practice and in the bullpen.

Whenever a pitcher needs to get in work on the side, Bonner is available.

“I try to catch as many ‘pens as I can, that’s the best way to simulate a game,” he said. “So whenever our guys need to throw a ‘pen, they can hit me up. I just try to work hard and try to treat it as if it’s a game when I catch ‘pens, so that I’m game-ready.

“I really do take BP very seriously, take practice very seriously, just because you never know when you’re going to get your chance. I try to get in the cage, get some extra swings in, so I’m ready, so my hands and eyes are working well.”

After dropping two of three at Rutgers last month — and at the start of Purdue’s home stand last week — Wasikowski significantly altered his lineup.

He figured, basically, why not? Purdue’s offense, for much of the season, had struggled to regularly plate runs. So starting with the April 23 game vs. Chicago State, Wasikowski put speedy veteran Milo Beam into the leadoff spot, shifting Skyler Hunter to the run-producing 3 hole. Bonner moved in at the 5 spot and Zac Fascia down to 6.

In back-to-back games, the Boilermakers scored a season-high in runs, with 10 and 11, then they took two of three games vs. SEMO over the weekend, scoring eight and six runs in the victories.

“That’s huge, having a guy like Fascia down in the lineup, so that if we do get some of those middle (of the order) guys on, we have someone to bring them in,” Bonner said.

In the five games, the Boilermakers hit .306 with 37 runs. The 3 through 6 batters (Cole McKenzie, Hunter, Bonner and Fascia) combined for 17 runs and 22 RBI. Purdue’s season average, by comparison, is .238, scoring about 4.1 runs per game.

Beam has been a spark out of the leadoff spot, hitting .333 with six runs, seven RBI, a double, a HR and three steals in five games.

“It’s a little longer, (deeper), no doubt, especially when you have a little bit more of the speed element,” Wasikowski said of Purdue’s new look. “It allows us to do some things, which is the way we like to play.”

Maryland's pushed itself into the Big Ten picture, into the logjam in the middle of the conference standings. The Terrapins, at 8-7, are in a three-way tie for fifth, but with a challenging upcoming schedule.

We talked to Terps' coach Rob Vaughn on this week's Big Baseball Podcast.

Off from midweek contests due to finals week, Purdue (17-26 overall, 6-8 in the Big Ten) is back in action Friday for a critical home series vs. Michigan State (14-28, 3-11).

The Boilermakers sit in 10th place in the Big Ten, but only a half-game out of eighth — the top eight make the conference tournament — and 1.5 out of fifth.

Purdue is feeling more confident now.

“We have to stick to our plan, keep having fun, keep supporting each other, keep holding each other accountable, and we’ll be fine,” he said.

Purdue is likely to stick with its weekend rotation, going with Trent Johnson Friday, Andrew Bohm Saturday and Patrick J. Smith on Sunday. … The Boilermakers’ win Sunday was its first rubber game victory in the history of Alexander Field. Purdue had not won a home rubber game since May 2009, losing in its last 10 opportunities. … During the last week, Beam and Powers have combined for three squeeze opportunities, with Beam bunting Powers home.

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