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Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday: Mike Kornacker (Fr, RHP) vs. Iowa's Tyler Peyton (Jr, RHP)
Saturday: Shane Bryant (Jr, RHP) vs. Iowa's Blake Hickman (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: Brett Haan (Sr, RHP) vs. Iowa's Calvin Mathews (Jr, RHP)
Series History
All-Time: Iowa leads 92-63-1
All-Time in West Lafayette: Iowa leads 40-38-1
Purdue Under Doug Schreiber vs. Iowa: Iowa leads 30-29 (Since 1999)
2014: Iowa won 2-of-3 in West Lafayette (May 15-17)
Purdue's Last Series Win vs. Iowa: Purdue Swept a 3-Game Series (May 2011 in West Lafayette)
First Meeting: Purdue 5, Iowa 2 (May 17, 1902 in West Lafayette)
Weekend Weather Forecast for West Lafayette, Ind.
Friday: 47 degrees, 50 percent chance of rain
Saturday: 57 degrees, clear skies
Sunday: 64 degrees, clear skies
Weekend Promotional Events at Alexander Field
Friday: Buy 1 Get 1 Student Tickets, Free Purdue T-Shirt for First 100 Students & Boiler Block Party Beer Garden
Saturday: Bring Your Dog to the Bark at the Park (Proof of Vaccination Required); Purdue Leash for First 100 Fans
Sunday: Kids Day & Postgame Easter Egg Hunt
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- As No. 24 Iowa visits Alexander Field for the third year in a row, Purdue baseball is set to resume its Big Ten Conference schedule while playing at home for the third consecutive weekend.
First pitch is slated for 5:30 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. The Hawkeyes (18-7, 3-0 Big Ten) are believed to be the first Big Ten rival to ever visit West Lafayette for a weekend series three years in a row. The Boilermakers (10-18, 1-2 Big Ten) will travel to Illinois and Michigan State for the third year in a row later this season. The duplicate scheduling is a byproduct of the Big Ten's expansion over the last four years. The addition of Maryland and Rutgers this year led to the league schedule having to be reworked again.
Iowa was ranked 24th in this week's Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll after sweeping Indiana in Iowa City last weekend. The Hawkeyes are ranked for the first time since 1990. Purdue will be looking to snap an 18-game losing streak against ranked teams this weekend. A May 2012 win at UCLA marked the last time the Boilers took down a ranked opponent.
Iowa entered the week ranking among the top 10 nationally in ERA (2.81) and fielding percentage (.980). The ERA rose by half a run after giving up a season-high 15 earned runs Wednesday in a midweek loss at Western Illinois.
The Hawkeyes' stellar defense has helped contribute to a .277 batting average on balls in play clip against the Iowa pitchers. Typically, a .300 clip is considered a baseline average when looking at batting average on balls in play, which removes strikeouts and home runs from the standard batting average equation. While both teams' pitchers average about 6.5 strikeouts and four walks per nine innings, the Purdue pitching staff has seen opposing hitters produce a .357 batting average on balls in play against it.
Led by the individual league leader Eric Toole (16-of-18), Iowa leads the Big Ten in stolen bases (42-of-54). Toole also leads the team with a .353 batting average and 21 runs scored. Purdue's Jack Picchiotti has thrown out 13 base stealers this season to lead the conference.
Tyler Peyton is starting on the mound on Fridays and remains a constant in the middle of the lineup for the Hawkeyes. He's batting .350 but has just three extra-base hits on the season as the regular first baseman when he's not pitching. Peyton is the reigning Big Ten Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete game shutout against Indiana last weekend. Second baseman Jake Mangler is having another good season for Iowa as well, leading the team with 18 RBI while striking out just seven times in 103 at-bats. Outfielders Joel Booker and Toole as well as Mangler have started every game at the same position.
.@AlecOlund1's multi-homer game was 1st by #Purdue freshman in BBCOR bat era (2011-Pr). Perk, Plawecki & Talbott had multi-HR games in 2010.
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) April 2, 2015
Purdue and Iowa closed the regular season against each other for five straight years from 2010-14. Including two meetings at the 2010 Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes were 12-5 against the Boilers during that stretch. Iowa has won five of six at Alexander Field the last two years and last year qualified for the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2010.
At the conclusion of this weekend, Purdue will have played 11 of its 13 games at home from March 18 through April 5. With road weekends at No. 15 Illinois and Michigan on tap, the Boilers are scheduled to play seven of their eight games away from Alexander Field from April 7-19. With Iowa, Illinois, Maryland and Nebraska all currently nationally ranked, Purdue could end up playing four series against Top 25 over the next six weekends.