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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 21 • 26 BY TRAVIS BAUGH TBaugh@Purdue.edu L ackluster pitching doomed Purdue in its season-opening series at Western Carolina. The Boilermakers surren- dered a combined 32 runs in 17-6 and 15-4 losses before avoiding a sweep with an 8-5 win in the series finale on Saturday afternoon. "We didn't walk a lot of hit- ters so we were in the zone quite a bit," Coach Doug Schreiber said. "At times we got elevated a little bit more than we would have liked, but Western Carolina is a pretty good hitting team … With the wind blowing out, it was definitely a hitter's type ballpark." Western Carolina chased Pur- due's starter quickly in each of the first two games. Gavin Downs lasted just two innings, allowing six hits and five earned runs in the process. Brett Haan struggled in the opener of Saturday's double- header as he gave up nine hits and seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. Purdue's woes on the mound extended into the bullpen as local products Brian Ghaselli and Shane Bryant allowed a combined 14 hits and 11 runs in their Purdue debuts. "We need more out of Downs and Haan, obviously," Schreiber said. "I'm fully confident they'll be able to give us better starts here in the future." The Boilermaker staff fared much better in the series finale, striking out 15 Catamounts in a 9-5 victory. "After giving up a lot of runs in the first two games and even offensively I thought we did some things … for our guys to come back and rebound and show a little fight was pretty impressive," Sch - reiber said. "We scored early, which was important and we were able to extend the lead a couple times." Matt Frawley churned out the best performance of Purdue's weekend starters, tossing four innings of three-run ball (two earned). Kyle Wood was solid in three innings of relief and Joe Eich- mann picked up where he left off from in a successful 2014 with a two-inning save. "Those three probably threw the best for us on the weekend which was nice to put together all in one game," Schreiber said. "Matt could have gone longer, he was still throwing well, but he gave us a quality start and we had POOR PITCHING SPOILS OPENING WEEKEND Boilermakers allow 32 runs in two losses CERAMIC • ENGINEERED HARDWOOD LAMINATES • MARBLE CARPETING Specializing in • Homes • Businesses • Churches • Schools Where Contractors Buy Their Flooring Builders! Call our Contract Department and ask for our Contract Specialist 3437 State Road 26 E. 765-447-9393 800-403-6889 FAX 765-448-9978 Across from the Post Office GO BOILERS Purdue Matt Frawley struck out five hitters and allowed two earned runs in Purdue's 9-5 win Saturday.