Midweek Stat Pack / Live Video / Live Audio
April 3 Update: The first pitch of Tuesday's game has been pushed back to 7:30 p.m. ET.
MIDWEEK SERIES INFORMATION
Oakland (6-18, 4-5 Horizon) at Purdue (14-10, 3-0 Big Ten)
Tuesday, April 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET and Wednesday, April 4 at 6 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: First Meetings
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Wednesday: Ryan Beard (Jr, LHP) vs. Oakland's P.J. Piesko (Sr, LHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball has a dozen home dates on the schedule this month, beginning with a two-game midweek series at Alexander Field against first-time opponent Oakland.
First pitch Tuesday and Wednesday is slated for 6 p.m. ET. Special $2 deals are in effect for all midweek games at Alexander Field. General admission tickets, domestic draft beers, hot dogs and nachos are specially priced at just $2.
The Boilermakers have not played consecutive midweek non-conference games against the same opponent since March 2010 at Missouri. They haven't done so at home since hosting IUPUI for a Monday doubleheader in May 1997. IUPUI discontinued its baseball program after the 2001 season.
Purdue only played three of its first 24 games inside the state of Indiana. That changes in a big over the next two weeks as the Boilermakers are scheduled to play their next 11 games in their home state. Seven of the 11 are scheduled to be played at Alexander Field. Purdue also visits Bloomington this weekend for a series with the rival Hoosiers and has another two-game midweek series on the horizon with Indiana State. The Boilermakers will visit Terre Haute on April 17 and ISU will return the trip to West Lafayette the following day.
Purdue is 1-2 vs. first-time foes this season, defeating Incarnate Word on a 10th-inning walk-off Feb. 23 in San Antonio and dropping consecutive games at Southeastern Louisiana and Nicholls State on the spring break trip. After this week, Oral Roberts (May 15 at Alexander Field) is the only first-time opponent remaining on the regular-season schedule.
The Boilermakers won their midweek opener vs. Valparaiso on March 28 and are 6-5 in midweek action dating back to March 2017. Since April 8 of last season, Purdue has at least one win against every Division I rival in the state except for two -- Butler and Evansville. The Boilermakers have not played UE since March 2013.
EXCELLENT WEEK FOR PURDUE PITCHING
- The Boilermakers surrendered only six runs (five earned) on 21 hits over 36 innings last week. The pitchers recorded 15 more strikeouts (35) than hits allowed. For the week, opposing hitters were just 6-for-43 (.140) with runners on base and 3-for-26 (.115) with runners in scoring position. Purdue pitchers allowed the first batter of an inning to reach safely in only six of the 36 innings. The defense backed up the staff, committing just two errors in 134 defensive chances -- good for a .985 fielding percentage.
- The five runs allowed at Penn State were the fewest surrendered in a three-game weekend series since last year's sweep of Illinois (four) at Alexander Field. A sweep at Northwestern in April 2012 marked the last time Purdue limited the home team to five runs or fewer in a Big Ten road series.
- Ryan Beard set the tone last week with six hitless innings in the Valparaiso win. The first hit he surrendered came with two outs in the seventh inning and was recorded by the 24th batter Beard faced.
- Trent Johnson followed Beard's lead and did not give up a hit until his final inning. In game three of the series, the freshman retired the first seven Penn State batters in order and did surrender a hit until a wind-aided fly ball dropped in center field in the bottom of the fifth. That ball was hit by the 18th batter Johnson faced.
- Friday, Tanner Andrews surrendered a single to the PSU leadoff man, but didn't give up another hit to the next 13 batters he faced. Three of the six hits he allowed came in the seventh inning.
- Gareth Stroh also gave up a game-opening single on Saturday. He did not give up another hit to the next 12 batters he faced on his way to a quality start.
- The Boilermaker bullpen was equally effective, working 12 innings of six-hit relief. The relief corps registered 15 strikeouts vs. four walks. Dating back to the eighth inning of the March 18 loss at Saint Louis, Purdue relievers have conceded just one unearned run over 21 innings.
- The Boilermakers swept a Big Ten series on the road for the first time since March 2013, also at Penn State.
QUICK LOOK AT OAKLAND
- The Golden Grizzlies made the move from the Summit League to the Horizon League during the 2013-14 school year. They opened their home schedule this past weekend, winning two of three vs. Milwaukee in weekend No. 3 of the double round-robin conference schedule. Purdue and Oakland both fell victim to sweeps at Saint Louis during the Billikens' 15-game win streak from March 2 to 28.
- The Golden Grizzlies have struggled scoring runs and in the field defensively. At the plate, they average 10 strikeouts per game while batting .235 as a team. Oakland has also made 42 errors in 24 games. Mario Camilletti leads the way with a .315 batting average as one of three players that has started every game. Tyler Trovinger is tops on the team with eight extra-base hits and 15 walks. Myles Zilinsky hit a grand slam in Sunday's rubber game win vs. Milwaukee and also has an inside-the-park home run this year.
- Nate Schweers has been the most valuable member of the pitching staff, recording 27 strikeouts vs. nine walks in 26 1/3 innings (all in relief). The lefty has taken the mound in 11 of the Grizzlies' 24 games. Beau Keathley, Max Lebrato and Cole Gibson all took the mound in Oakland's last midweek game, a March 20 loss at Michigan. Lebrato (4 IP, 2 R, 0 BB), who attended high school in Dubai, was the most effective of the three.