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86 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED mendous pride in my defense in the outfield, especially since Alexander Field is so big. I think it can definitely give our team momen- tum if I make a big play or a good throw. I think a good defensive play gives almost as much momentum as a good offensive (play)." And Johnson has made plenty. His catch against Nebraska a couple seasons ago might have been the best. De LaRiva was on the mound then, serving up a pitch that a Corn- husker just crushed into left-center. Johnson, who was shaded right, took off on a dead sprint, head down, he says, for about 10 big strides. "I look up at the ball and am on the right track, take a couple more steps and I just lay out, fall with the ball in my glove and just slide on the grass and on the warning track. Then I kind of bumped into the wall," he said. "I kind of knocked the wind out of myself and looked up and was like, 'Damn. I went a long way for that ball.'" De LaRiva had a good look, turning around to see a ball soaring toward the fence. "I just said, 'Man, that ball is going far,'" De LaRiva said. "But when I saw him running as fast as he possibly can, I knew once I saw him look at the ball, that he was going to be able to catch it. But … that ball was hit pretty far." Now in his senior season, Johnson wants to put it all together, the defense with the new-found offense, and do so consistently. That's been missing in the past. "And that's been frustrating to me, because I'm consistent with working hard, consistent with my time, trying to get better, but on the field it wasn't translating to consistent re- sults," he said. "I think a lot of that was my mental approach, trying to do too much, fo- cusing big picture instead of the little things I needed to do to get better. … The mental part of the game is what separates the good from the great, and what separates consistency from inconsistency." j Seniors Vow Turnaround Baseball KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com P urdue's senior class has seen too many losses. Three years ago, the group was charged with helping the Boilermakers keep momentum following the Big Ten championship in 2012. But that proved too much. In '13, Purdue lost 34 games; it was 37 in 2014 and 34 last season, when the Boilermakers finished last in the Big Ten. It's left the class stung, knowing it's down to its last chance to show that it can be a winner. "Everybody kind of has that chip on their shoulder," senior catcher Jack Picchiotti said. "But it's our responsibility to turn this thing around; we've been here for three years, had a down three years, so we've got one more chance to rewrite what we started and get the whole program turned back around." Purdue has experience, with a core of Picchiotti, Kyle Wood, Kyle Johnson and Cody Strong who have been regular starters since their rookie seasons in '13. The foursome is part of a senior class of 13, a group that's helped lead through the off- Purdue Kyle Wood, and three other Purdue seniors, enter their fourth seasons as Boilermaker starters. It's their veteran leadership that might help Purdue surge in 2016.