LAKE WALES, Fla. — The Purdue University Northwest baseball team lost both games of a doubleheader against Warner Monday. The Pride (2-5) lost game one to the Royals (22-8) 2-0, before falling the game two, 8-4.
GAME 2: Warner 8, PNW 4
PNW struck first in the opening frame as senior Brett Veltema (Jenison, Mich./Jenison/Muskegon CC) reached on an error which scored senior Austin Kordik (West Chicago, Ill./Community) from second base.
Warner bounced back and put up a four-spot in the top of the second off freshman starter Garrett Wiggs (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) to go ahead 4-1.
Veltema made it 4-2 with his solo home run to right field in his third inning. Warner got that run right back in the bottom half to make it 5-2.
Sophomore Hunter Ryan (Hebron, Ind./Hebron) scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning to make it 5-3. Wiggs ended up going three innings in his PNW debut, scattered three hits, allowed five runs (all earned), issued three walks and struck out four.
Senior Brendan Kelly (Grandville, Mich./Grandville/Muskegon CC) came in to pitch the fourth inning. Warner went up 6-3 in the inning after hitting a home run.
The Royals added on and scored two more unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Sophomore Kevin McCune (Munster, Ind./Andrean) kept the Pride’s hopes alive with his RBI double to left to make it 8-4 but then Warner was able to get the final out in the seventh inning.
GAME 1: Warner 2, PNW 0
Sophomore starter Chad Patrick (Hebron, Ind./Hebron) took the hard-fought loss (0-2), with his complete-game effort, throwing all six innings, scattering four hits, allowing two runs (both earned), issuing three walks and struck out 12.
This time it was Warner who struck first in the bottom of the opening frame.
PNW looked to respond in the top of the second inning after Michael Woods (Elk Grove, Ill./Elk Grove/Harper JC) singled up the middle then Conner Hoffman (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central) singled on a shallow fly ball but Woods was thrown out at second. Sophomore John Cory (Lowell, Ind./Lowell) singled to left and advanced to second on the error, however, Hoffman was thrown out at the plate to squander a scoring chance.
Warner went up 2-0 after a couple of miscues by the Pride in the third inning. Both teams were held scoreless in the final four frames as the Royals won 2-0.
PNW returns to action Tuesday, March 12 as the Pride travel to Saint Leo to take on the Lions starting at 5 p.m. CT.