Walk leads to Purdue walk-off win in Big Ten Tournament
OMAHA, Neb. — Milo Beam is Purdue’s designated defensive replacement, coming in late when the Boilermakers have leads — and that’s been frequently lately — to try to help them hold on.
But Thursday, the Boilermakers also needed his speed on offense.
The sophomore outfielder drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth inning against Michigan, then busted to second base as ball four rolled to the backstop. When he — and third base coach Mark Wasikowski — noticed that no Wolverines were covering third, he sprinted there, too. The rare three-base walk gave the Boilermakers an opportunity, with Evan Warden delivering a bases-loaded RBI two batters later to walk off.
Purdue (36-18) won 5-4, advancing to play Saturday in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park. It was the Boilermakers' 20th win in the last 22 games.
“I think it’s a good thing that we work on it every day in practice, (running) on a past ball on a walk,” said Warden, “and we make sure we get to third if (the defense) is not paying attention. Milo, with his speed, he kept his head up, was aggressive and it was fun to watch. There are not many people who can run like him.”
Warden had to execute, as well. After Michigan (33-20) intentionally walked the bases loaded, in an attempt to create a force out at home, the junior grounded a ball back through the middle vs. a drawn-in infield. Beam scored easily, setting off a wild celebration that ended a back-and-forth affair.
“I was just trying to put the ball in play, put it on the barrel,” Warden said. “I like my odds against them; make them make a play. I didn’t want to put it in to anyone else’s hands. … I want to make them make a play in that situation.”
Behind a solid start from Gareth Stroh, who went 5.2 innings, the Boilermakers took a 3-0 lead into the sixth. Purdue got an RBI single in the first from Jacson McGowan, then a run-scoring triple from Evan Kennedy in the fourth. He scored on Alec Olund’s ensuing groundout.
But after Stroh recorded outs to two of the first three Wolverines in the sixth, he found trouble. Reliever Bo Hofstra inherited the bases loaded, with two outs, and appeared to get the third on a strikeout. Instead, though, the ball got past catcher Nick Dalesandro, scoring a run and keeping the inning alive. Michigan’s Brock Keener followed with a two-run single to tie at 3. All three runs, charged to Stroh, were unearned.
“I think earlier in the season we probably would have just rolled over and died right there, probably quit and started blaming anybody we could have for what had happened in the inning,” Wasikowski said. “The bottom line is negative stuff in baseball is going to happen and probably in every game. The hardest thing for us as a team has been to overcome that adversity; we’re still not great at it. We still have some head-hanging, or a tough time dealing with the negative, but we were to rebound, we were able to get back to a positive state of mind where we were able to get ready for the next play. I think that was a real key to tonight’s ball game.”
Skyler Hunter led off the bottom half of the sixth with a double, scoring as Purdue reclaimed the lead on McGowan’s second RBI single. But Michigan responded in the eighth, again re-tying the game and setting up Purdue’s dramatic finish.
Beam, a lefty who came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh, was set to face lefty William Tribucher (4-4) in the ninth. Wasikowski says he thought about a pinch-hitter, but instead stuck with Beam, a .196 hitter. He came through with a walk and much more.
“I was running hard and listening to my coaches,” Beam said. “The ball was behind me the whole time, so I really couldn’t see what was going on. I have to thank my coaches for waving me on.”
And Warden brought him home.
“I’m pretty confident,” said Warden, who in his last start vs. Michigan took a one-hop drive off the face, receiving eight stitches in his lip for his effort. “They had less respect for me than I had in myself. I’m pretty confident in that situation. That’s the moment we all live for, bases loaded and you have to make the game-winning hit. That’s the stuff we’ve grown up to do. So it’s one of those moments you want to take advantage of. You don’t want to throw it away or give anything away. You want to make the most of it.”
Notes: Purdue will play at 2 p.m. ET Saturday against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. … Dalton Parker (5-0) got the win for Purdue, pitching a scoreless ninth. … Kennedy’s triple was the first of his career. … Purdue is now 21-9 in Stroh’s starts over the last two seasons. … Thursday was the Boilermakers’ second walk-off of the season, with Incarnate Word being the other, on Feb. 23. … Purdue is 9-2 in one-run games. … The Boilermakers are 10-1 in neutral site games.
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