Baseball: Purdue Heads to North Carolina for Campbell Invitational
Purdue's baseball team got off to a good start on opening weekend, and coach Greg Goff and his Boilermakers are looking for more of the same this weekend during three games at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C.
Purdue is part of the Campbell Invitational, and will play Campbell, Maine and Villanova in their second weekend of action. Purdue (3-1) took the season-opening series against Hofstra in Sanford, Fla., courtesy of three comeback victories.
It's also a homecoming of sorts for Goff and assistant coach Chris Marx as they return to Buise Creek, N.C., the home of Campbell. Goff was the head couchette Campbell from 2008 to 2014. Campbell's program had a massive turnaround with Goff at the helm, as he inherited an 11-45 team and just in five years helped them win 40 games and ended a 24- year postseason drought for the Camels.
Marx was at Campbell more recently and helped the Camels to consecutive Big South Conference regular season and tournament titles in 2018 and 2019.
Here are the particulars on this weekend's series:
- OPPONENTS
- Friday: Campbell Camels (2-2) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (3-1), 4 p.m. ET
- Saturday: Maine Black Bears (0-3) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (3-1); Noon ET
- Sunday: Villanova Wildcats (1-2) vs. Purdue Boilermakers (3-1), 10 a.m. ET
- Where: Buies Creek, N.C.
- Probable starters: Game 1: Cam Cowan (Campbell) vs. Trent Johnson (Purdue); Game 2: Matt Pushard (Maine) vs. Cory Brooks (Purdue); Game 3: TBA for both schools.
- All-Time Series: Purdue vs. Campbell, first meeting. Purdue vs. Maine: Maine leads 1-0, last meeting in 1991:Purdue vs. Villanova, Villanova leads 1-0, last meeting 2010.
- TV: ESPN-Plus (Friday only)
- Radio: WSHY, 104.3-FM
Here are three things to know about the weekend series:
1. Knowing the opponents
Campbell is the two-time defending Big South regular season and tournament champion and the Camels won two NCAA tournament games last year before being eliminated in the regional. Campbell's two wins this season have come against top-25 opponents in South Alabama and East Carolina.
Villanova opened its season in Phoenix, Ariz. against No. 8 Arizona State and was able to upset the Sun Devils in the second game of the series.
Maine struggled in its opening weekend series, dropping all three games to Winthrop.
2. Keys to the series
Since Purdue had to battle from behind to win three games last weekend, it would be nice to see them get out to early leads this weekend.
Scoring early will take a little pressure off the Purdue pitching. Purdue averaged 8.75 runs in its opening series, batting .256 as a team, but much of that damage came late in games.
3. Players to watch
Purdue senior catcher Zac Fascia did it all in the first weekend, and looks to be a staple in the Purdue lineup and behind the plate defensively. Fascia batted .500 in 14 at bats and scored six runs in the process in the first four games. He hit safely in all four games vs, Hofstra and also threw out four base runners defensively.
Another name to look out for is JUCO transfer Kyle LaPlante, who had a huge weekend at the plate. If he is able to continue his success batting second in Goff's lineup, Purdue will certainly have success in the top of the order. LaPlate went 6-for-15 at the plate and recorded an RBI in all four games and leads the team with six RBIs overall.
Related items on Purdue baseball
- TWITTER: Follow our Sports Illustrated Purdue account at @sports_purdue
- MORE TWITTER: Follow Purdue baseball writer Brett Douglas CLICK HERE
- FACEBOOK: Follow our Sports Illustrated Purdue page at Facebook.com/SportsIllustratedPurdue
- 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