Purdue baseball stumbles in ninth against Indiana, falls 1 game back in Big Ten standings

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue baseball's Big Ten title hopes had a slight hiccup over the weekend.

After a solid series opener Friday against rival Indiana, the Boilermakers saw their rival rally in the late innings on both Saturday and Sunday to take the series at Alexander Field.

Indiana scored all of its runs Saturday in the seventh and ninth innings to win 10-2 and spoil a solid starting pitching performance from Purdue's Luke Wagner.

In Sunday's series finale, the Hoosiers took advantage of three walks and a Purdue error in the top of the ninth to steal a 5-4 victory with a four-run ninth, again ruining a dominant performance from Boilermaker starter Kyle Iwinski, who allowed four hits and one walk over six scoreless innings.

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The Boilermakers (31-17, 12-6) entered the weekend tied for first with Illinois atop the Big Ten standings. The Illini won two of three in a series against Ohio State and now leads the league.

Illinois is one game ahead of a three-way tie for second between Purdue, Indiana and Nebraska.

Purdue is on the road Wednesday at Illinois-Chicago before a three-game road series at Michigan. The Boilermakers wrap up Big Ten play at home against Illinois from May 16-18.

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue baseball stumbles in ninth against Indiana, falls 1 game back in Big Ten standings