Kaleb Roper strikes out 8, pitches Tulane to 1-0 win over Purdue

Box Score (PDF)

NEW ORLEANS – Junior Kaleb Roper struck out eight batters over 8.0 shutout innings to lead Tulane baseball to a 1-0 victory over Purdue Friday evening at Greer Field at Turchin Stadium.

Sophomore second baseman Jonathon Artigues delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the eighth inning with a single that scored senior designated hitter Matt Rowland, who led off the inning with a double. The Green Wave won the pitcher’s duel to improve to 7-7 while the Boilermakers fell to 8-3.

“I’m really happy for (Roper) to pitch like that,” Tulane head coach Travis Jewett said. “I knew how much he wanted to get back out there after the short outing that he had last Friday. I had almost a confidence about me with him today just watching him prepare this week and his ability to stay focused just on this one and not try to make up for the last one tonight.

“I told the kids this is just another value we can use, because this is Friday night college baseball, and when you get two guys toeing up against each other it’s going to be that kind of game.”

Roper and Purdue’s Tanner Andrews dueled in a twin two-hit shutout for seven-and-a-half innings. Roper (1-2) allowed just two hits and two walks in his longest outing of the season, racking up a season-high strikeout total. Andrews (2-1) struck out seven and allowed four hits and two walks in 7.2 innings. Senior Sam Bjorngjeld came on with two on and one out in the ninth and got a groundout and a fly out to close it out for his first save of the season.

Rowland drove an 0-2 pitch off the right center field wall for a double to start the eighth inning, and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Artigues worked the count to 2-2 and fouled off a pitch before driving a base hit into right center field to score Rowland.

Tulane had threatened in the fifth inning when sophomore third baseman Kody Hoese singled and freshman left fielder David Bedgood walked, but Andrews got two strikeouts and a fly out to end the threat. Hoese doubled with one out in the second inning and finished the game 2-for-3.

Roper allowed a two-out single in the first inning, then retired 11 straight before a single in the fifth. He encountered trouble in the sixth with a walk and hit batter, but coaxed an infield fly and got a strikeout on a ball in the dirt to end the threat.

The shutout was Tulane’s first since a 7-0 win over Columbia on March 17, 2017. It was the first 1-0 victory since a defeat of Memphis at home on May 13, 2016.

Game 2 of the series will be at 2 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are available at TulaneTix.com or in person at the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office in the James W. Wilson Jr. Center. Saturday’s game will be streamed online and can be heard on 88.3 FM WRBH or via TuneIn Radio.

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Tulane 1, Purdue 0 (Mar 09, 2018 at New Orleans, La.)

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Purdue………….. 000 000 000  –  0  3  0      (8-3)

Tulane………….. 000 000 01X  –  1  4  1      (7-7)

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Pitchers: Purdue – ANDREWS, Tanner; LEARNARD, Ross(8) and DALESANDRO, Nick. Tulane –

ROPER, Kaleb; JOHNSON, Trent(9); BJORNGJELD, Sam(9) and OWEN, Acy.

Win-ROPER, Kaleb(1-2)  Save-BJORNGJELD, Sam(1)  Loss-ANDREWS, Tanner(2-1)  T-2:32  A-1648

Weather: 63 Fair, Wind SE @ 8 mph