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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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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) |
