Bears Stumble Late, Purdue Rallies for 6-5 Walk-Off Win at Round Rock Classic

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Baylor baseball (4-2) blew a late five-run lead and suffered a 6-5 walk-off loss to Purdue (3-3) in the second game of the Round Rock Classic on Saturday afternoon at Dell Diamond.

Left-handed pitcher Ethan Calder (Sr.) tossed a gem, posting five scoreless frames and striking out six batters, while allowing just four hits on 67 pitches; he has yet to allow a run through his first two starts of the year.

After Calder exited, things went downhill, with Baylor’s bullpen combining to surrender six earned runs and 10 hits across 3.1 innings pitched.

Offensively, despite getting out to a quick 5-0 start, the Bears posted four straight zeroes to close the contest. Baylor was out-hit by the Boilermakers, 14-to-11; the Bears also stole five bases in the defeat.

Baylor couldn’t capitalize on its best chance at regaining the lead in the top of the eighth inning when second baseman Pearson Riebock (So.) was at the plate with the bases juiced.

Riebock lasered a line drive toward first base, but Purdue’s CJ Richmond (Sr.) made a diving grab to get the Boilermakers out of the jam; Richmond also went 2-for-4 at the plate, with a three-run homer and four RBIs.

“That was a tough one,” head coach Mitch Thompson said post-game. “You have to give Purdue credit. They fought back to get in that game. We took a nice 5-0 lead. Ethan threw the ball extremely well in his start. It’s a disappointing way to lose one, but I think you have to give Purdue credit. They got hits to get it done. We weren’t giving them walks, errors, extra outs — they earned it. Disappointing loss for us, and a good win for them.”

After facing Oregon State’s flamethrower, Dax Whitney — who recorded a career-high 17 punchouts — on Friday night, the Bears matched up against an arm with a completely different pitching style in Purdue’s crafty lefty, Zach Erdman (Sr.); Erdman had an arsenal of offspeed pitches, and his fastball sat in the mid 80s.

With a runner on second base and two outs, right fielder Brady Janusek (Fr.) fought back from a 1-2 count to force the count full and pushed an RBI single through the right side to the Bears on the board in the first inning, 1-0.

In the top of the fourth, center fielder Ty Johnson (5Sr.) led off the frame with an infield single and third baseman Brytton Clements (RFr.) clubbed a one-out double into the left-center field gap for his first career RBI, extending Baylor’s lead to 2-0.

The Bears hung a three-spot and chased Erdman from the contest in the fifth inning; he allowed eight base knocks and punched out six batters on 83 pitches.

In that frame, shortstop Travis Sanders (RSr.) rocketed a double 108 miles per hour off the bat to the right field wall, and Riebock followed that up with a perfectly placed bunt down the third base line. Sanders finished the contest 2-for-4 at the plate for his third multi-hit game of the season.

Later in the inning, Sanders scored on a wild pitch, Riebock scored on a sacrifice bunt from Johnson and Janusek, who reached on a walk, scored on an RBI double from catcher Brayden Buchanan (RSo.), who tallied the second multi-hit game of his career.

Right-handed pitcher Cayden Baker (RFr.) entered in relief of Calder from the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth and surrendered back-to-back singles before Richmond crushed a 408-foot home run to cut into Baylor’s lead, 5-3.

Baker allowed another single before getting pulled in favor of righty Luke DeVasher (Jr.), who got the Bears out of the sixth-inning jam with a 6-4-3 double play. DeVasher allowed two baserunners to reach in the seventh inning, and RJ Ruais (Jr.) surrendered two more base knocks to tie the game at five apiece.

Purdue center fielder Brandon Rogers (Sr.) laid down a perfectly placed bunt between the pitcher’s mound and first base to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Following a sacrifice bunt to move Rogers to second base, veteran reliever Grayson Murry (Sr.) entered to get the Bears out of the jam, but surrendered a walk-off single on the first pitch he threw to Purdue shortstop Westin Boyle (Fr.), who went 3-for-5 in the Boilermaker victory.

Final: Purdue 6, Baylor 5

W: Jake Kramer (1-2) L: RJ Ruais (0-1)

POTG: Ethan Calder (5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 19 BF, 67 TP, 43 ST)

What’s Next

The Bears (4-2) will close the Round Rock Classic against No. 20 Southern Miss (4-1) at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 22, at Dell Diamond. The game will be streamed on D1Baseball.com.