Game Notes / Live Video / Live Audio / Gameday Central
WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Purdue (29-16, 13-4 B1G) at Ohio State (31-16, 11-7 B1G)
Friday to Sunday, May 11 to 13 at 6:30, 3 and 1 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Bill Davis Stadium / Columbus, Ohio
All-Time Series: Ohio State leads 146-64-1 / All-Time in Columbus: Ohio State leads 78-25
2017: Purdue won 2 of 3 (March 31-April 2 in Columbus)
First Meeting: Purdue 4, Ohio State 3 (May 1913 in West Lafayette)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Tanner Andrews (Sr, RHP) vs. OSU's Connor Curlis (Jr, LHP)
Saturday: Gareth Stroh (Jr, LHP) vs. OSU's Ryan Feltner (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: TBA for Purdue vs. OSU's Adam Niemeyer (Sr, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue baseball's final road games of the regular season double as one of the series to watch in the Big Ten this weekend as the Boilermakers visit Ohio State for the second year in a row.
First pitch in Columbus is set for 6:30 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The road team has won the last eight Purdue-Ohio State series dating back to 2007.
OSU's Bill Davis Stadium and Indiana's Bart Kaufman Field are the only Big Ten ballparks the Boilermakers will have played at each of the last two seasons. Conversely, Northwestern and Michigan were both scheduled to visit Alexander Field for the second year in a row. Prior to last season, Purdue had not visited OSU's campus since the opening Big Ten weekend of the 2012 campaign.
Minnesota and Michigan (14-3 B1G) are tied atop the Big Ten standings with two weekends remaining. Purdue (13-4) is in third place, joining the league leaders as teams that have clinched conference tournament berths. Ohio State and Illinois (11-7) are tied for fourth. The Wolverines host the Fighting Illini this weekend in the other Big Ten series featuring two of the top five teams in the standings.
Meanwhile, Iowa (9-7) has series wins vs. Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois. The sixth-place Hawkeyes close the regular season with series against Northwestern and Penn State, which are at the bottom of the standings and have already been eliminated from Big Ten Tournament contention.
Indiana (9-8) joins the top six in the Big Ten standings as the league's teams that have played themselves into consideration for NCAA Regional berths.
Thursday Media Session: Coach Waz, Harry Shipley & Alec Olund discussed Wednesday's comeback win, playing well when it matters in May & Olund's emergence during the 13-game win streak. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/kTEPsDAJoR
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 10, 2018
The Boilermakers' 13-game win streak, matching the longest single-season run in program history, has allowed them to match last year's overall win total. Purdue's 13 conference wins, including nine in a row, is one more than it posted last year while qualifying for the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since winning it in 2012. The Boilermakers won 10 consecutive Big Ten games in a season just once before, in 2001 during another 13-game win streak.
Purdue won its series at Ohio State a year ago thanks to a 2-1 victory in the rubber game. Skyler Hunter delivered the go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning. Ross Learnard escaped a jam in the bottom of the sixth and Cameron Williams closed out the win with two innings of scoreless relief, backing up five-plus innings of one-run ball from Mike Kornacker. The Boilermakers came back to win the series after dropping the series opener in ugly fashion. It marked only the second time since the start of the 2010 campaign that Purdue won games 2 and 3 to take a Big Ten series.
Since then, the Boilermakers have won their last five Big Ten series openers. Tanner Andrews has led the way as the staff ace. Those wins are big reason why Purdue is 19-8 on Fridays since the start of 2017. But a 9-5 record on Saturdays in 2018 has also been significant.
ANDREWS' LAST SIX BIG TEN ROAD STARTS
April 14, 2017 at Rutgers -- Win, 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K
May 18, 2017 at Minnesota -- Win, 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K
March 30, 2018 at Penn State -- Win, 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K
April 6, 2018 at Indiana -- 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 K
April 20, 2018 at Maryland -- Win, 7+ IP, 11 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K
Combined Totals: 4-0, 31 IP, 30 H, 12 BB, 22 K, 2.90 ERA
GRADUATING THIS WEEKEND
Tanner Andrews, Organizational Leadership
Evan Kennedy, Finance
Mike Kornacker, Organizational Leadership
Ross Learnard, Agricultural Business
Alec Olund, Organizational Leadership
Harry Shipley, Movement and Sport Sciences
ANATOMY OF THE WIN STREAK
Longest active streak in the nation as of May 10
Purdue is one of 12 teams nationally to win at least 13 consecutive games this season
Dates: April 20 to present
Opponents: at Maryland (3), Chicago State, No. 15 Indiana, Rutgers (3), Northwestern (3), Fort Wayne, at Ball State
Home/Road: 9-0/4-0
Big Ten/Non-Conference: 9-0/4-0
Scoring Margin: Purdue 109, Opponents 43 (+66)
Team Stats: .322 batting average, 2.34 ERA, .977 fielding percentage
Innings Played: 119
Innings Led: 85
Inning Trailed: 18
Longest Stretch Without Trailing: 50 consecutive innings (April 22-May 4)
Big Innings (4+ Runs): 10
Biggest Inning: 9 runs, bottom 2nd vs. Fort Wayne (May 8)
Highest-Scoring Inning & Best Scoring Margin: 2nd inning, outscored opponents 21-1
Scored in the First Inning: 6 times
Lowest-Scoring Game: Purdue 1, Rutgers 0 (April 29)
Highest-Scoring Game: Purdue 27, Fort Wayne 3 (May 8)
Comeback Wins (4): April 21 at Maryland -- Jacson McGowan hits solo homers in the 9th and 11th innings as Purdue rallies for 4-3 victory. April 22 at Maryland -- the Boilermakers score five times in the 7th inning to overcome four-run deficit in an 8-6 win. May 4 vs. Northwestern -- Purdue scores three times in the 8th inning to overcome two-run deficit in an 8-7 victory. May 9 at Ball State -- Highlighted by Harry Shipley's game-tying three-run inside the park homer, the Boilermakers score five times in the 9th inning to overcome a three-run deficit in a 10-8 win.
Ross Learnard: Recorded the final out of 9 of the 13 wins, earning 8 saves.
Team Leaders: Hits/Batting Average -- Alec Olund, 20/.417. RBI -- Skyler Hunter, 16. Walks -- Jacson McGowan, 15. Runs Scored -- Harry Shipley, Nick Dalesandro and Hunter tied with 14. Stolen Bases -- Dalesandro, 10.
Pitched at Least 10 Innings: Tanner Andrews (19 1/3), Gareth Stroh (14 2/3), Trent Johnson (13 2/3), Ryan Beard (11), Andrew Bohm (10 2/3), Bo Hofstra (10).
Pitched in at Least 4 Games: Learnard (9), Trevor Cheaney (7), Hofstra (5), Dalton Parker (4), Patrick J. Smith (4), Johnson (4).