Game Notes | Listen | Grand Park | Game Day Central
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Mike Kornacker (Fr, RHP) vs. NIU's Ben Neumann (Sr, LHP)
Game 2: Brett Haan (Sr, RHP) vs. NIU's Dirk Ormsby (Sr, RHP)
Game 3: Matt Frawley (So, RHP) vs. NIU's Ryan Olson (Jr, LHP)
Series History
All-Time: Purdue Leads 3-0
Last Meetings: Purdue swept a three-game series (1999 in West Lafayette)
Weekend Weather Forecast
Saturday in Westfield: 54 Degrees, Clear Skies
Sunday in West Lafayette: 59 Degrees, Clear Skies
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue baseball takes on Northern Illinois this weekend for the first time since 1999, squaring off against the Huskies Saturday for a neutral-site doubleheader at Grand Park and Sunday for the home opener at Alexander Field.
The first pitch of Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game is slated for 1 p.m. The Boilermakers (5-9) will take on NIU (8-7) at field D-1 at Grand Park in Westfield, Indiana. Admission to the Grand Park complex is $5 and parking is free. Normal ticketing procedures are in place for Sunday's home opener at Alexander Field, where parking is always free. Fans that had tickets for the originally scheduled games Friday and Saturday at Alexander Field this weekend can exchange them for general admission tickets to Sunday's home opener or any future home game this season.
Grand Park features numerous fields with artificial turf playing surfaces. Alexander Field's natural grass playing surface most likely would have been ready to go for Saturday if not for the steady rain showers in the Greater Lafayette area for much of Tuesday and again Friday morning.
The Wood brothers square off this week and both corner infielders are the reigning Players of the Week in their leagues. Purdue's Kyle Wood was 9-for-11 last weekend at Oklahoma to claim the Boilers' first Big Ten Player of the Week honor since April 1, 2013. NIU's Brad Wood, a freshman third baseman, was 6-for-11 in a series victory at Southern Illinois and was selected as the Mid-American Conference's West Division Player of the Week.
Entering the weekend, Kyle Wood is batting .426 for the season after recording multiple in his seven of his last 10 games. Brad Wood's collegiate career is off to a hot start as well. He's batting .333 with 11 RBI. Both brothers have also pitched three innings this season. Brad will face his former St. Laurence High School teammate, Mike Kornacker, in the opener of the series.
Northern Illinois is currently on its spring break trip and played each of its first five games of the trip on artificial turf in Carbondale, Illinois. The Huskies swept a March 8 doubleheader against Southern Illinois to win their weekend series with SIU. Midweek games against Murray State were also moved to Carbondale due to field conditions and the teams split a Wednesday doubleheader.
Purdue will play on artificial turf for the first time this season Saturday. But road games at Louisville (March 17), Indiana State (April 7), Illinois (April 11-13) and Michigan (April 17-19) in the coming weeks will also be on turf fields.
Northern Illinois played a three-game series against Bowling Green at Grand Park last year. Notre Dame also played two games against Virginia Tech in Westfield a year ago. The Huskies' first-year head coach, Mike Kunigonis, was an assistant at Virginia Tech last season. There is also a Youngstown State-Milwaukee series scheduled to be played at Grand Park this weekend.
Kunigonis took over the NIU program on January 5, 2015, after 12-year skipper Ed Mathey resigned in late November to become the head coach at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, for the second time. Kunigonis has the Huskies playing well this season, as they've already enjoyed three winning weekends. Four of NIU's seven losses came at the hands of nationally ranked Texas Tech in Lubbock the weekend of Feb. 20-21.
Northern Illinois starting pitchers Dirk Ormsby (2.91 ERA, .235 B/Avg. in 21 2/3 innings) and Ryan Olson (1.76 ERA, .214 B/Avg in 15 1/3 IP) are both off to strong starts. Brian Sisler is batting .400 and leads the team with eight doubles and 13 RBI.
For Purdue, Michael Vilardo and Wood have reached base safely in 12 and 10 consecutive games, respectively. Vilardo has hit safely in 11 of his first 14 games as a Boilermaker and led off a game with a hit six times while batting in the leadoff hole every time. Kornacker has surrendered no more than one run in any of his three starts and earned his first collegiate win last weekend at Oklahoma after working a season-high 5 1/3 innings as he continues to be stretched out.
Dating back to the 2014 home opener, Matt Gibbs has only allowed 22 hits in 37 2/3 innings (5.26 hits per nine). The senior has been the Boilers' final pitcher in three of the first five wins this year, officially closing out a pair of victories.
A March 13 home opener would have matched the earliest in Purdue history. The Boilermakers also played their home opener on the 13th of March in 1996. The March 15 home opener would be the second earliest in the record book. During head coach Doug Schreiber's tenure (1999-present), the earliest Purdue has ever opened in March 20 (2002). However, throughout the 1990s, the Boilers annually opened at home from March 16-19.
Purdue is 12-4 in home openers under Schreiber, including 12-1 against non-conference opponents. NIU's Mid-American Conference rivals Kent State and Ball State are also on the Boilers' schedule this year.
Purdue is one of six Big Ten teams scheduled to play at home this weekend. Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska and Ohio State are also hosting home series.