Baseball: Purdue Begins Midweek Play Against Rival Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Purdue baseball opens midweek play Wednesday with the first of four meetings this season against rival Indiana. Wednesday's contest will be considered a nonconference weekday game for the third consecutive year.
The nonconference game between Big Ten rivals is rare, but the early-season game was put together because there had been several conference seasons lately where Indiana and Purdue didn't play a traditional weekend Big Ten series.
So in the summer of 2017, former head coaches Mark Wasikowski (Purdue) and Chris Lemonis (Indiana) agreed to begin playing such a game to assure the teams would meet at least once every season.
Wasikowski is now the head coach at Oregon and Lemonis is at Mississippi State, but current head coaches Greg Goff and Jeff Mercer agreed to extend the single-game midweek series. The team that hosts the weekend series, as Purdue does in May of this season, visits the other ballpark for the midweek date.
Here are the particulars on this weekend's series:
- OPPONENT
- Wednesday, March 4: Indiana Hoosiers (6-3) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (6-4), 3 p.m. ET
- Where: Bloomington, Ind. at Bart Kaufman Field
- Probable Starters: McCade Brown (Indiana) vs. Andrew Bohm (Purdue)
- All-Time Series: Indiana leads 152-134-2 overall, won last meeting in 2019
- TV: BTN+
- Radio: WSHY, 104.3-FM
Here are three things to know about the midweek matchup:
1. Knowing the opponent
Indiana (6-3) opened its season in Baton Rouge against powerhouse and No. 11 ranked LSU. They lost the series to the Tigers, but after dropping the first two contests, they stole the final game 7-2.
Since opening weekend, Indiana has gone on a tear, winning five of its last six games, including ranked wins over No. 30 South Alabama and No. 17 East Carolina over the past two weekends. Their only loss came on Sunday to No. 13-ranked Ole Miss.
2. What Purdue needs to do to win
Purdue (6-4) has begun the season interestingly so far, starting 6-1, including a five-game win streak and the title of the 2020 Campbell Invitational champions.
Last weekend, the Boilermakers were tested in Minneapolis against ACC and top-25 foes including No. 14 Duke, No. 8 N.C. State and No. 23 North Carolina. Purdue lost all three games, but the Boilermakers were in the game late in all three matchups thanks to great starting pitching.
On Wednesday, Andrew Bohm makes his first start and fifth appearance of the year. The Fishers, Ind., native will need to go at least five solid innings of work to take the load off of the Purdue bullpen, who has struggled when called upon so far this season.
3. Player to watch
Purdue senior outfielder Skyler Hunter leads the team in plate appearances and is second on the team in batting average, hitting .325 with a team-best 13 hits.
It will be crucial for Hunter, the Boilers' leadoff hitter, to get the Purdue lineup going against the Hoosiers on Wednesday. Creating early offense, as well as recycling the lineup, will be important.
Indiana is slated to start the same right-hander against Purdue for the second year in a row. In last year's meeting, McCade Brown was unable to retire any of the five batters he faced – walking four – as the Boilermakers scored twice in the first inning. Hunter can attempt to put Purdue on that same pathway leading things off.
Related items on Purdue baseball
- TWITTER: Follow our Sports Illustrated Purdue account at @sports_purdue
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- PURDUE SCHEDULE: Here's the complete 2020 baseball schedule CLICK HERE
- PURDUE ROSTER: Here's the complete 2020 baseball roster CLICK HERE
- PURDUE STATISTICS: Individual statistics through four games. CLICK HERE