Box Score
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Behind two home runs from Tommy Crider and another pitching gem from Andy Bean, the Belmont University baseball team took down Purdue, 3-2, in their series opener at Alexander Field in West Lafayette, Ind., on Friday night.
Belmont (24-14, 9-3 OVC) secured their first victory over a Power Five opponent since Feb. 14, 2020, when they beat Kansas, 6-0, at E.S. Rose Park. The win is the first on the road over a Power Five opponent since the Bruins took down Northwestern, 7-5, on May 19, 2018, in Chicago.
Crider's go-ahead home runs in the second and sixth innings gave the junior from Madison, Ala., five home runs in his last five games. The reigning OVC Player of the Week now has three multi-homer games this year, and became the first Bruin in over a decade-plus to homer multiple times in a single game against a Power Five opponent.
Bean (W, 7-1) went seven strong innings, going blow-for-blow with highly-touted Purdue ace Jackson Smeltzer and coming out on top of the pitcher's duel with just two earned runs allowed, four strikeouts, and only one walk.
The sophomore from Fisherville, Tenn., had strong defense behind him, with the Bruins turning two crucial double plays late in the game—one in the seventh inning on an outfield assist from John Behrends that cut down a Purdue runner attempting to tag up, and one in the eighth inning on a groundball that went from second-to-short-to-first to erase a Boilermaker baserunner.
The throw in from Behrends was one of the most remarkable defensive plays this season, with the junior from Chattanooga, Tenn., delivering a perfect throw to Jackson Campbell who applied an athletic tag to keep Belmont in front, 3-2.
The Bruins jumped ahead in the second inning on Crider's solo home run, then took a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Guy Lipscomb slammed a ball to left field that was misread by the left-fielder, allowing Lipscomb to reach third base and then come home on a second Purdue error on a throw that went into the third base dugout.
The Boilermakers responded with a run in the bottom of the third inning, and appeared to tie the game at 2-2 on a sacrifice fly to the outfield. However, the Purdue runner was ruled to have left early, and Belmont stepped on third base to record the out. Purdue's manager was ejected soon after for arguing the call.
Purdue got a solo home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning, setting the stage for Crider's second solo go-ahead homer in the sixth that set the final score at 3-2.
Will Jenkins tossed a scoreless eighth inning on the hill in a high-pressure situation to hand it over to Kyle Brennan (SV, 12), who added on to his program-record for career saves with his twelfth of the season, pitching a scoreless ninth inning to send the Bruins over the railing of the dugout and onto the field.
Belmont will try to clinch a series win when they return to Alexander Field on Saturday night for the second game of the series with Purdue. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
The game will be streamed on B1G+, and live audio play-by-play will be broadcast on the Bruin Sports Network. Live stats will be available on BelmontBruins.com, and in-game highlights will be posted to Twitter by @BelmontBaseball.
Follow Belmont baseball on social media - @BelmontBaseball on Twitter and @belmontbaseball on Instagram - for complete coverage of the Bruins. Stay up to date with all of Belmont's athletic programs via the official app of the Belmont Bruins, available both in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
