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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Fort Wayne (7-30) at Purdue (22-18)
Tuesday, April 25 at 6 p.m. ET
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
Probable Pitching Matchup: Jack Dellinger (Fr, RHP) vs. Fort Wayne's Damian Helm (Jr, LHP)
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 24-4 / All-Time in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 18-1
2016 in West Lafayette: Fort Wayne 4, Purdue 3 (May 10)
2016 in Kokomo: Fort Wayne 6, Purdue 5 (May 17)
Purdue's Last Win vs Fort Wayne: Purdue 14, Fort Wayne 5 (April 2015 in West Lafayette)
First Meeting: Purdue swept a doubleheader 3-2 and 2-1 (May 1976 in West Lafayette)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball continues its season-long 10-game homestand with its final midweek date of April, hosting Fort Wayne on Tuesday at Alexander Field.
The game was moved up one day due to thunderstorms in the forecast for Wednesday. First pitch remains at 6 p.m. It's another $2 midweek matchup ââ'¬" all general admission tickets, hot dogs, nachos and domestic draft beers are specially priced at $2.
The Boilermakers and Mastodons are scheduled to play again May 16 in the midweek finale for both teams. Fort Wayne opted to move the rematch to Kokomo Municipal Stadium in Kokomo, Indiana. The teams also played in Kokomo last year.
Long known as IPFW, an abbreviation for Indiana University-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, the Athletics Department was fully rebranded as Fort Wayne in the summer of 2016. Last week, the Purdue Board of Trustees voted to rename the school Purdue University Fort Wayne. The name change will officially go into effect July 1, 2018. However, the Fort Wayne Mastodons is likely to remain as the preferred name for the Athletics Department at the university.
Fort Wayne swept the two midweek meetings with Purdue last year, ending the Boilermakers' nine-game win streak in the series that dated back to 2010. The Mastodons dealt Purdue two of its 13 losses in one-run affairs last year.
But the teams' fortunes have flipped so far this year. While Purdue has its first winning season since 2012 in its sights, Fort Wayne is rebuilding. The Mastodons enjoyed one of their finest campaigns in recent history a year ago, winning 33 games and reaching the championship game of the Summit League Tournament for the second consecutive season. But they graduated their top four hitters and a number of other key players. Only six Mastodons, four position players and two pitchers, who saw action against Purdue last year are still on the roster.
The Boilermakers also experienced quite a bit of roster turnover, but the newcomers have helped spearhead this season's turnaround. Among position players, newcomers have made a combined 184 starts for Purdue. On the mound, Gareth Stroh (10) and Jack Dellinger (7) have accounted for 17 of the 18 starts by newcomers. Combined, that's over 200 starts by Boilermakers that weren't on the team last season.
They may not have started a game this season, but relievers/newcomers Ross Learnard (3 wins, 3 saves, 0.31 ERA in 19 appearances), Dalton Parker (2 wins, 5 saves, 2.73 ERA in 29 2/3 innings) and Cameron Williams (3 saves, 24 Ks vs. 6 walks in 21 innings) have also been a big part of the turnaround. They helped Purdue post a 2.81 team ERA last week. The Boilermakers were able to sweep the Illinois series despite scoring just 10 runs over the three games.
The Boilermakers' .984 fielding percentage was also a big part of their 4-1 week. Two of the three errors they were charged with were throwing miscues, both surrendering an extra base vs. allowing a batter to reach safely and thus extending an inning.
PARKER TIES PURDUE'S FRESHMAN SAVES RECORD
- Dalton Parker worked 7 2/3 innings of three-run relief over two appearances last week. After coming up one out shy of closing out the 12-inning loss to Ball State on Tuesday, the Central Illinois native was able to finish off the Fighting Illini in Friday's series opener. The four-inning save was his fifth of the season, matching a Purdue freshman record that has stood since 1993 (Doug Kelly).
- Parker has worked a combined 13 innings in his five appearances in which he has been credited with a save. Friday's game was the first time he gave up a run while earning a save. Only one of those five outings was a one-inning (modern closer) appearance. Meanwhile, the four-inning appearance Friday was his longest since working five innings of one-hit ball in the Feb. 18 win at Texas State.
HOMESTANDS OF AT LEAST EIGHT GAMES SINCE 1990
2017 ââ'¬" 10-Game // April 21 to May 7 // 3-0 Record thru 3 Games
2011 ââ'¬" 8-Game // May 11 to 21 // 6-2 Record
2008 ââ'¬" 9-Game // March 22 to 30 // 8-1 Record
1997 ââ'¬" 9-Game // April 25 to May 3 // 8-1 Record
1996 ââ'¬" 9-Game // March 29 to April 7 // 4-5 Record
1995 ââ'¬" 10-Game // April 8 to 18 // 7-3 Record
1990 ââ'¬" 10-Game // April 27 to May 10 // 3-6-1 Record
1990 ââ'¬" 12-Game // March 17 to April 1 // 8-4 Record