For the third straight Big Ten series Purdue baseball has earned a sweep, and it has vaulted the Boilermakers into first place in the Big Ten with three weeks to go. The Boilers swept last place Northwestern in Chicago this weekend and have now tied a program record with 10 straight conference wins.
The hot streak has Purdue right in the thick of the Big Ten race as the season winds down, and Purdue will not have to scoreboard watch if it wants to win only its third Big Ten title ever. Here are the current standings after this weekend:
Nebraska could finish the day tied with Illinois and Purdue as well, as they are playing game 2 of a doubleheader in Lincoln with Iowa. Purdue has made this impressive run by taking care of business agaisnt the bottom of the league. They have swept Rutgers, Michigan State, and Northwestern and should, at minimum, be in great shape to qualify for the Big Ten Tournament as one of the top eight teams in the final standings.
Purdue will control its own destiny the rest of the way as well. It hosts Indiana this coming week before going to Michigan, then hosting Illinois for the final series of hte year.
This weekend's sweep started Friday night at Wrigley Field as Purdue broke open a close game late. Camden Gasser drove in Mike Bolton Jr. with a first inning base hit, then Luke Gaffney and Connor Caskenette each had third inning RBI singles. Northwestern cut it to 3-2 with a pair of runs in the fourth, but Purdue broke the game open with a four-run eighth inning. Gaffney had an RBI hit, Breck Nowik was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Jo Stevens had a two-run single to make it 8-3. Gaffney drove in his third run of the game in the ninth for the final margin. He finished the night 4 for 5 with 3 RBI. Jordan Morales went six strong innings to move to 6-4 on the year.
The series moved north to Evanston for game 2 and Purdue took advantage of the wind to hit a ton of home runs. Luke Wagner improved to 7-0 on the mound with five strong innings as Purdue took the second game 10-7. Bolton led off the game with a first pitch homer, then Gaffney and Stevens each homered in in the third. Stevens' homer was a three-run job that made it 6-0. Caskenette and Stevens each homered in the fifth, while Keenan Spence hit a two-run homer in the seventh that made it 10-3. The Wildcats made a bit of a late comeback, but Purdue held on for the win.
Sunday's game three was almost all Caskenette. He homered twice and drove in seven runs as Purdue clinched the weep with an 11-3 win. Stevens also had a two-run homer run as part of a three-run third inning that made it 4-0. Northwestern cut the lead in half with a two-run homer in the fourth, but Caskenette had a three-run homer in the fifth that busted the game open for Purdue.
Purdue is now 29-15 overall on the season with 11 (maybe 12, depending on if a midweek rainout with Valparaiso is rescheduled) games left before the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue has a midweek glorified exhibition against DePauw that will count on the team's record, but will not count for any NCAA consideration. To make the tournament Purdue probably need to win two of the last three series and not drop its midweek games. A regular season conference title might be enough as well.
A real player to watch is freshman Luke Gaffney. He leads the Big Ten with 60 RBI and Caskenette is now second with 57. Gaffney is also second in hitting with an incredible .412 average and his 11 home runs is tied with Caskenette and just two off the league lead. He has a real shot to win the league's triple crown at the plate. He did not play in Sunday's game, but he finished the weekend 5 of 7 at the plate. Bolton set the table by going 6 of 11 for the weekend with two walks and seven runs scored.
This weekend's series at Alexander Field is potentially one of the biggest in the history of the Purdue-Indiana rivalry. The winner gets a leg up for the Big Ten title and Purdue is looking to avenge an embarassing series at Indiana last year. The Hoosiers earned the sweep 26-11, 15-3, and 10-2 and went on to make the NCAA Tournament, finishing 43-20.
