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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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April 2, 2012
Home is Where you Make it
 The
end of March on the Purdue campus usually means a couple things; fraternity slip
and slides, 6’s turn into 8’s (see “Big
Ten Play Begins”) and the baseball team hosts its first home game. Although
the Boilers hoped to open Alexander Field this week, they were instead
determined to open the 47th and final year at Lambert Field in memorable
fashion.
A Top 25 match-up on Tuesday between Louisville and Purdue,
possibly the first in Lambert Field history, left the 763 fans in attendance,
plus the two diehard fans looking from the nearby track, far from disappointed.
The “Craftsman” was at it again as Connor Podkul went six strong innings,
allowing zero hits and walking only one as he lowered his batting average
against to a miniscule .086 in leading the Dream Team to its 17th win of the
season.
Despite the IPFW Mastodons’ best effort, they were only able to
hold “The Pack” down for six innings as the Boilers were able to score three in
the seventh and eighth, completing their 18th win with a score of 6-1.
 With
the first true week of mid-week play in the books, it was time for us to turn
the focus to the weekend shenanigans that can only take place in Big Ten play.
Friday opened up with the Penn State Nittany Lions coming into West Lafayette
trying to knock off the No. 19 Boilermakers. Their efforts would prove futile as
the third strong pitching performance of the week behind the aforementioned
“Bazooka” Joe Haase would lead us to a best 3-1 record in the Big Ten.
Some wondered how long “The Staff” of the Dream Team would be
able to do the work once placed on “The Pack”. Lance “O-H-I- own you” Breedlove
answered that question while adding Pennsylvania Avenue to his Monopoly of the
nation’s hitters. A complete game, two-hit shutout, led us to our 19th win but
more importantly Coach Doug Schreiber’s 400th career win. In an interesting
note, Coach Schreiber’s 100th, 250th, 300th and 400th career wins all came
against the Nittany Lions.
 Sunday
provided the Boilermakers with an opportunity to sweep for the second straight
weekend, but just like last week, Purdue could not capitalize as Penn State
seemed to acquire MLB powers similar to the fact-based, Academy Award-winning
film Space Jam. Penn State salvaged Game 3, preventing Los Boilers from the
sweep and giving them a bitter pill to swallow heading into week 3 of conference
play.
This coming week is another one on the road for us as on
Wednesday, we will be playing the Anderson Ravens at Victory Field, the home of
the Indianapolis Indians, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate. We will
then leave for a three-game set against the Northwestern Wildcats on the
outskirts of Chicago, Ill.
Thanks for reading.
Cal Gunter and David Miller
(photos courtesy of Purdue Media Relations Office) |
