FINAL: Ohio (8-9) 6, Purdue (3-11) 4 - Kokomo, Ind. (Kokomo Municipal Stadium)

OHIO STARTERS: Manny De Jesus (CF), Ty Black (2B), Rudy Rott (1B), John Adryan (3B), Cody Gaertner (C), Mitch Longo (LF), Spencer Ibarra (RF), Nate Squires (DH), Tyler Finkler (SS), Jake Miller (P)

PURDUE STARTERS: Stephen Kalina (DH), Jack Picchiotti (C), Kyle Johnson (CF), Jacson McGowan (3B), Kyle Wood (1B), Nick Dalesandro (LF), Cody Strong (2B), Alec Olund (RF), Harry Shipley (SS), Tanner Andrews (RHP)

THE BASICS
The Ohio baseball team (8-9) pounded out 14 hits en route to a 6-4 victory over Big Ten Conference foe Purdue (3-11) on Friday (March 18) in the weekend series opener at Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Ind.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Redshirt junior designated hitter Nate Squires (Plain City, Ohio) went 3-for-5 with two doubles and drove in three runs for the Bobcats.
• Junior left fielder Mitch Longo (Mayfield, Ohio) went 3-for-4 with two runs scored.
• Senior third baseman John Adryan (Delran, N.J.) finished 2-for-5.
• Senior right-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller (Westerville, Ohio) earned the win on the mound for Ohio to improve to 2-3 on the year, striking out three while giving up four earned runs on 10 hits in 6.1 frames of work.
• Redshirt sophomore right-handed reliever Jake Roehn (Sandwich, Ill.) picked up his first save of the year, fanning one while giving up one hit and one walk in one inning of work.
• Purdue took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning, but the Bobcats struck back in the top of the second to even the score. Redshirt senior catcher Cody Gaertner (Pittsburgh, Pa.) got thing started for Ohio by leading off the frame with a base hit to center, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Longo followed by drawing a walk. Gaertner and Longo each advanced 90 feet on a double steal, then Gaertner scored Ohio's first run on a Purdue error. Longo tied the game at two-all when he scored on a ground out by junior right fielder Spencer Ibarra (Fort Collins, Colo.).
• Ohio tallied runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 4-2 lead. Junior shortstop Tyler Finkler (Olmsted Falls, Ohio) sent a leadoff single to left and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center by junior second baseman Ty Black (Waynesville, Ohio) in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Gaertner reached on a fielder's choice and later scored on an RBI base hit back up the middle by Squires.
• The Boilermakers got a run back in the sixth, but the Bobcats made it a two-run game again in the seventh when Longo sent a leadoff single back up the middle and later scored on a double down the left field line by Squires.
• Ohio scored its sixth and final run in the ninth when Ibarra coaxed a two-out walk and scored on a double to center by Squires.

UP NEXT
Ohio looks to earn the weekend series win when it battles Purdue on Saturday (March 19) in a 2 p.m. ET contest.

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