That lead vanished.
Purdue (13-31, 1-14 Big Ten) head coach Doug Schreiber elected to start junior righty Gavin Downs on Sunday afternoon. Having thrown more than 100 pitches heading into the ninth, Downs was a little worn down, but he pitched regardless.
It didn’t work out well for the Boilermakers.
Downs gave up consecutive singles to open the ninth inning. A passed ball advanced the runners to second and third base with no outs. After he plunked the third batter, loading the bases, Downs was pulled for reliever Joe Eichmann.
Eichmann finished the inning, but not before three runs came across the plate, turning a 3-1 Boilermaker lead into a 4-3 deficit.