The Ball State Cardinals (30-16, 14-5 MAC) and the Purdue Boilermakers (19-28, 7-10 Big 10) went head to head at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Indiana.
Ball State fell to Purdue 9-3, only scoring in the first three innings of the game. When the two teams previously faced off March 19 during a home game with Ball State clean sweeping 6-0.
The second inning saw Cardinals’ freshman Ryan Pelltier hit an RBI double, starting the Cardinals off with a short lead. Boilermakers were quick to respond scoring three runs in the bottom of the second. Purdue would continue to score runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
Ball State tied the game in the third inning, relying on a wild pitch and an error from the Boilermakers, but sophomore Charlie Nasuti hit two RBIs for the Boilermakers at the bottom of the inning, taking the game 5-3.
All five Ball State pitchers made it out to the field tonight. Leading the Cardinal pitchers in field time this season is Mike Pachmeyer, pitching a total of 39 innings this season. Pachmeyer marked a total of 33 strikeouts for the season so far.
Senior William Baker, junior Ross Messina and senior John Ricotta each scored runs for the night.
Purdue’s defense seemed determined to not give the Cardinals any momentum on offense, shutting out Ball State in the fourth and fifth inning. Purdue also nearly doubled the Cardinals in hits, 11-6.
Head coach Rich Maloney said via text message Purdue played better than Ball State “in every facet and earned the win.”
“Frankly, we just played better the first game. Our pitchers in the first game did their job and passed it to the next guy, that didn’t happen today,” Maloney said.
He said the team is focused on facing a gritty Ohio University team, and the team needs to be “ready to play every game.”
The Cardinals will meet the Ohio University Bobcats 3 p.m. Friday at the Ball Diamond.
Contact Charles Melton with comments at cwmelton@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Cmelton144.
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