Midweek Stat Pack | Listen | Watch Tuesday (PPV) | Game Day Central
Probable Pitching Matchups
Tuesday: Gavin Downs (Jr, RHP) vs. Louisville's Anthony Kidston (Jr, RHP)
Wednesday: Shane Bryant (Jr, RHP) vs. Valpo's Ellis Foreman (So, RHP)
Series History
All-Time vs. Louisville: Louisville leads 8-6
Purdue Under Doug Schreiber vs. Louisville: Louisville leads 5-2
2014 vs. Louisville: Louisville 3, Purdue 1 - 10 Innings (April 8 in West Lafayette)
Last Meeting in Louisville: Louisville 3, Purdue 1 (March 13, 2013)
Purdue's Last Win vs. Louisville: Purdue 2, Louisville 1 - 10 Innings (March 27, 2012 in West Lafayette)
Purdue's Last Win in Louisville: Purdue 6, Louisville 4 (March 8, 2011)
All-Time vs. Valparaiso: Purdue leads 64-18
Purdue Under Doug Schreiber vs. Valparaiso: Purdue leads 13-3
Last Meeting: Purdue 7, Valpo 2 (June 1, 2012 at NCAA Regional in Gary)
Last Meeting in West Lafayette: Purdue 14, Valpo 6 (April 6, 2010)
Weather Forecast
Tuesday in Louisville: 58 degrees, 20 percent chance of rain
Wednesday in West Lafayette: 50 degrees, clear skies
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue baseball begins midweek play and opens it home schedule this week, taking on No. 11 Louisville Tuesday and hosting Valparaiso Wednesday for the first game of the young season at Alexander Field.
First pitch Tuesday at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville is set for noon. Wednesday's home opener at Alexander Field is slated for 5:30 p.m. The special noon start on Tuesday is for elementary school day at Patterson Stadium. It was also elementary school day when the Boilers played at Louisville on a very cold day in March 2013.
Tuesday Purdue (7-10) will be in search of its first victory on St. Patrick's Day since winning at Eastern Kentucky in 2010. It will be the Boilers' last game outside of the state of Indiana until April 11. Beginning Wednesday, Purdue is schedule to play 12 of 14 games at home over a 19-day stretch. The only road games before the April 11-13 series at No. 18 Illinois are at Ball State (March 25), Butler (March 29) and Indiana State (April 7).
The Boilermakers have not played Valparaiso since the 2012 NCAA Regional Purdue hosted at the U.S. Steel Yard in Gary. During the final week of the regular season, the Boilers will play at Valpo's Bauer Field for the first time since May 2007. Purdue has won six straight against the Crusaders dating back to 2006.
Even with the home-opening series against Northern Illinois being moved to Grand Park in Westfield due to unfavorable field conditions, a March 18 home opener still represents Purdue's earliest since 1998. Valparaiso was also the opponent for the Boilers' home opener in four straight seasons from 1997-2000.
Louisville (14-6, 5-1 ACC) and Valparaiso (4-10, 1-2 Horizon) have already begun conference play on the weekends. Purdue hosts Rutgers this weekend as Big Ten play gets underway.
The Cardinals have advanced to the College World Series each of the last two years and are now playing in their third conference in the last three years. Now a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, they've opened ACC play by winning five of six vs. Miami and Boston College. Tuesday's game is the finale of a 14-game homestand. Louisville visits Notre Dame this weekend.
The Boilermakers last game against a team that was an active member of the ACC at the time was against Maryland in April 2012. The Terrapins are a now a conference rival within the Big Ten and will visit Alexander Field the final weekend of April. Besides ACC newbies, Notre Dame, Louisville and Pitt, Purdue has not played a current member of the conference since a March 2006 series at North Carolina.
Valparaiso is the only Horizon League opponent on the Boilers' schedule this year. Purdue has played Illinois-Chicago 12 times since 2008, but the Flames are not on the 2015 schedule.
The Crusaders opened conference play by dropping two of three at UIC this past weekend. Valpo has a pair of wins against common opponent Western Carolina and plays at No. 21 Indiana Tuesday before visiting Alexander Field for the first time.
Gavin Downs worked three innings of one-hit ball against Louisville last season as the starter for the April 6 midweek game at Alexander Field. Kyle Wood homered in that game, but the Cardinals scored twice in the top of the 10th to pull out a 3-1 win.
Anthony Kidston is scheduled to start for Louisville Tuesday. He was part the weekend rotation for all of 2014 but has experienced some struggles early this year, giving up 27 hits in 20 innings pitched while compiling a 7.20 ERA. However, he has struck out 25 in 20 innings, indicating he can still overpower hitters. As a freshman in 2013, he worked 8 1/3 innings of one-run ball over two appearances against Purdue. He struck out 11 and surrendered only two hits. Brandon Krieg, Kyle Wood, Jack Picchiotti and Kyle Johnson are the active Boilers that faced Kidston in 2013.
Ellis Foreman was a weekend starter for Valpo for the second half of 2014. However, each of his first three appearances this season has been in relief. Shane Bryant will make his first start as Boilermaker Wednesday. He'll become the sixth Purdue pitcher to start a game this year.
The Boilermakers are 12-4 in home openers under Doug Schreiber.