Calvin Gunter is a senior pitcher from Noblesville, Ind. The left-hander appeared in 15 games in 2011 with eight starts. Gunter went 5-3 with one save, recording 40 strikeouts in 45.1 innings. He spent the 2008 season at Toledo before sitting out the 2009 campaign after transferring to Purdue. Gunter was 1-3 in 2010 with three saves. He appeared in 22 games with four starts, fanning 32 in 36.2 innings. An Academic All-Big Ten selection in 2011, Gunter is majoring in political science.

 

 

David Miller is a senior from St. Louis, Mo. Miller started 46 of his 53 games at shortstop a season ago for the Boilermakers. He batted .281 with four doubles, three homers, 32 runs and 33 RBI. Miller led the Big Ten with 41 walks and an on-base percentage of .465. He was plunked 14 times, fanned just 24 times and was 9 for 13 on stolen bases. Miller played two seasons at Southwestern Illinois College before transferring to Purdue. Miller is majoring in history with plans of becoming a teacher and coach.

 

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March 12, 2012 

Spring Break ’12: Opposing Pitching & Clothing Optional

 

As a large majority of the student-body headed for their favorite Spring Break destination, the Purdue Baseball Dream Team headed south for the SB hotspot of Murray, Ky., to take on the ‘Breds of Murray State in a three-game series. The 336-mile journey south took nearly seven hours as the Boilermaker Express was forced to take state highways the majority of the way. Perhaps Dwight D. Eisenhower thought a major interstate running north to south in Indiana was unnecessary; we’d beg to differ. The traditional series would provide a new challenge for the Boilers as this would be the first time they would play an opponent more than once in a weekend.

 

Friday proved to be the closest game of the series for us, led by the strong relief pitching of NBA Hangtime second team All-Region Blake Mascarello, overcame a 1-0 deficit to defeat the Thoroughbreds. From this point forward it would be all Boilermaker Baseball as the final two games saw us outscore the ‘Breds 35-3 with hitting that continually raises the bar for itself and strong pitching. So productive on Saturday was the “Pack” offense that the team record in hits was tied with 30. In our previous entry (see Boilers Roll like the Tide through Auburn) we referenced the probability of scoring seven runs with two outs in an inning to that of West Lafayette hosting the 2024 Olympics. Apparently the Olympic committee decided to give West Lafayette the nod as again we scored eight runs with two outs in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game. Our “Kurk Gem” of the season has to be that we have scored 37 runs in the sixth inning alone; over 12 times the amount of runs we have scored in the fifth inning (3). “This is absurd.” Despite his best efforts to stop the momentum in the inning, longtime awaited “two-way guy” Sean “Daddy” Collins saw his first plate appearance in four years of baseball with the Boilermakers. Needless to say some things really aren’t worth the wait as three sliders saw two tragic swings and a foul-tip strikeout. Collins redeemed himself later on in that inning with a hit-by-pitch (in the head) that allowed him to showcase his true talent of base running with Rudy-like effort.

 

Adversity did show its ugly face with a shoddy DVD player merely 10 minutes in the trip from West Lafayette to Murray, Ky. Thank goodness Coach Payton Bieker channeled his inner Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor and fixed what could have led to a bus riot. As we sit on our second leg of the road trip through the Ozark Mountains towards Springfield, Mo., who would have thought a broken DVD player would be minor compared to the air conditioner that decided to malfunction, leaving the athletes in attire more appropriate for a French beach than a charter bus. I guess the joke is on us.

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Cal Gunter and David Miller

 

(photos courtesy of Purdue Media Relations Office)