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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Indiana State (12-12) at Purdue (15-12)
Tuesday, April 4 at 6 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
Probable Starting Pitchers: Jack Dellinger (Fr, RHP) vs. TBA for Indiana State
All-Time Series: ISU leads 39-29-2 / All-Time in West Lafayette: ISU leads 19-15-1
2016 in Terre Haute: ISU 4, Purdue 1 (April 5)
2016 in West Lafayette: ISU 22, Purdue 4 (April 20)
Purdue's Last Win vs. Indiana State: Purdue 10, ISU 6 (April 2015 in Terre Haute)
Purdue's Last Win vs. Indiana State in West Lafayette: Purdue 2, ISU 1 -- 10 Innings (May 2012)
First Meeting: Purdue 7, ISU 0 (1902 in West Lafayette)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball's first full week of home games features visits from a pair of in-state rivals, beginning Tuesday with a midweek date vs. Indiana State.
First pitch at Alexander Field is set for 6 p.m. ET. It's the third of the Boilermakers' six home midweek matchups, which feature special $2 deals on general admission tickets, hot dogs, nachos and domestic draft beers. In honor of Major League Baseball's opening day this week, children wearing a hat or clothing item of their favorite MLB team receive $1 admission Tuesday. Purdue students receive free admission to all home games.
The Boilermakers and Sycamores are scheduled to play again April 19 in Terre Haute. The home dates were actually flipped back in December due to ISU's long trip to Texas for a series at Dallas Baptist (April 21-23) following the midweek rematch.
After playing each of its first seven weekends on the road, Purdue will be at home for five of the next six weekends. Nineteen of the Boilermakers' next 25 games through May 14 are scheduled to be played at Alexander Field. Purdue's 14 true road wins are easily the most in the Big Ten and more than the program had in the last two seasons combined (10). Minnesota and Michigan State both have 10 true road wins this year as the only other Big Ten teams to have reached double figures.
Surprisingly, despite having an artificial turf field, Indiana State has only played four home games so far. The Sycamores were idle the weekend of March 24 to 26, but a week off did not stop them from winning at Indiana last week. However, they were swept in a series at Illinois this past weekend, losing game two on a walk-off home run in the ninth inning. Tuesday will be ISU's fifth straight game against a Big Ten opponent.
The Hoosiers visit Alexander Field this weekend for the first time. It will be the first series between the rivals in West Lafayette since April 2011. Purdue and Minnesota were the only two teams to play each of their first two Big Ten series on the road.
Jack Dellinger has allowed just one earned run (five total) over 12 1/3 innings in his first two midweek starts. He impressed over 7 1/3 innings of four-hit ball in the home opener vs. Kent State, retiring 14 of the first 16 batters he faced. It ranks as the fourth-longest outing of the season by a Boilermaker.
WARDEN, SHIPLEY STILL 1-2 NATIONALLY
- The Boilermakers' double play combination of Evan Warden (17) and Harry Shipley (14) continues to rank 1-2 nationally in hit by pitch. Warden has been on base safely 45 times via a hit, walk or hit by pitch, good for a .455 on-base percentage. Only Bryce Bonner has a higher OBP (.463 in 39 fewer plate appearances). Shipley has been on safely 52 times and also sports a strong OBP (.426) while batting first or second in the lineup in each of the first 27 games. Warden and Shipley have both scored 22 runs to share the team lead with Nick Dalesandro.
WINNING CLOSE AND LOW-SCORING GAMES
- Purdue did not record an extra-base hit in two of its three wins last week. The Boilermakers had six singles in the home-opening win vs. Kent State and seven in Sunday's rubber game victory at Ohio State. Not surprisingly, both were one-run affairs with the Purdue pitching staff surrendering just one earned run in the two games combined. The Boilermakers are 3-1 in one-run games and 5-3 in games decided by two runs or fewer, exceeding last year's win totals (2-13, 3-18) in both categories already.
- Purdue won its series at Ohio State by posting its first Sunday victory in six tries. Mike Kornacker, Ross Learnard and Cameron Williams teamed up to limit Ohio State to one run on four hits. The Boilermakers had surrendered 56 runs in their five Sunday losses entering the day. Most teams end up losing when they surrender 10-plus runs. Purdue is 15-6 when giving up fewer than 10 runs in a game this year, winning at over a .700 clip when keeping the opposition within striking distance.
NOTABLE CURRENT STREAKS
- Skyler Hunter: Reached base safely in 17 straight games; batting .367 with 16 RBI and .414 OBP during streak
- Ross Learnard: Pitched 17 consecutive scoreless innings; 13 Ks vs. 10 hits allowed over 10 appearances during streak
- Bryce Bonner: Reached base safely in 14 straight games he has started; batting .375 with 8 XBH and 8 walks during streak
- Evan Warden: Reached base safely in 8 straight games; 8-for-26 (.308) with 7 runs scored during streak
- Evan Kennedy: Reached base safely in 8 straight games; 7-for-22 (.318) with 7 free passes during streak
QUICK LOOK AT INDIANA STATE
- The Sycamores played nine of their 24 games so far on their spring break trip, visiting Utah Valley, Seattle University and No. 12 Washington on the westward swing. They split a four-game series with the Huskies, who are led by former ISU head coach Lindsey Meggs (2007-09). Indiana State entered the Illinois series winners of seven of nine, but lost three low-scoring games in Champaign. There were only a combined 20 runs scored in the series after Illinois and Michigan State combined for 52 runs the weekend prior.
- Dane Giesler (6) and Kyle Moore (5) have combined for 11 of ISU's 22 home runs. Tony Rosselli is batting .400 with 12 extra-base hits, including five triples, in 20 games. He also has more sacrifice flies (3) than walks (2). Rosselli had four hits and eight RBI at Alexander Field last year.
- The Sycamores are ranked 24th nationally with a .979 fielding percentage. They've surrendered only 20 unearned runs in 24 games.