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NCAA REGIONAL INFORMATION / FIRST TWO ROUNDS
No. 3-seed [No. 21] Houston (36-23) vs. No. 2-seed [No. 27] Purdue (37-19)
Friday, June 1 at 7 p.m. ET / ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN App
Boshamer Stadium / Chapel Hill, North Carolina
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Probable Pitching Matchup: Tanner Andrews (Sr, RHP) vs. UH's Aaron Fletcher (Jr, LHP)
Purdue vs. No. 1-seed [No. 5] North Carolina (38-18) or No. 4-seed N.C. A&T (32-23)
Saturday, June 2 at 1 or 6 p.m. ET / ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN App
Boshamer Stadium / Chapel Hill, North Carolina
All-Time Series vs. North Carolina: UNC leads 7-2 / All-Time in Chapel Hill: UNC leads 2-1
Last meetings: UNC won 2 of 3 (March 2006 in Chapel Hill)
First Meeting: UNC 13, Purdue 5 (1981 in Lakeland, Florida)
All-Time Series vs. N.C. A&T: First Meeting
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Purdue baseball continues its postseason run with a trip to Chapel Hill to take on American Athletic Conference champion Houston and a pair of teams from the Carolinas in NCAA Regional play.
The No. 27 Boilermakers will be the home team for Friday's 7 p.m. ET opening round game vs. No. 21 Houston. No. 5 North Carolina hosts North Carolina A&T in the 2 p.m. afternoon game Friday at Boshamer Stadium. Day 2 action features Friday's losers squaring off at 1 p.m. and the winners taking the field at 6 p.m. Sunday's games are also set for 1 and 6 p.m.
North Carolina and Houston were both NCAA Regional hosts last year and would have squared off in a Super Regional, but they did not advance. Houston repeated as the AAC regular-season champion this spring. UNC and N.C. A&T were both division champions in their conferences this year. The Aggies qualified for an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2005. They've been idle since May 20 when they won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament.
North Carolina is the No. 6 national seed. The Chapel Hill Regional is paired with the DeLand Regional, hosted by a Stetson team that the Boilermakers played back in early March. The DeLand Regional also features South Florida, Oklahoma State and Hartford. Stetson is seeded 11th among the NCAA Regional hosts. The winners of the Chapel Hill and DeLand Regionals will meet in a Super Regional next week (June 11-13).
Coincidentally, Stetson (14), North Carolina (13) and Purdue (13) enter the NCAA Tournament with the longest active home win streaks in the country.
Among the three visiting teams in Chapel Hill this weekend, Purdue's 22-14 combined record in road and neutral-site games is the best. Away from home this year, Houston is 14-17 and N.C. A&T 12-12.
North Carolina was selected to host an NCAA Regional for the ninth time since 2006. The Tar Heels advanced to the College World Series six times in eight years from 2006 to 2013. But St. John's (2012) and Davidson (2017) have also won Regionals in Chapel Hill this decade.
Jacson McGowan, Skyler Hunter & Coach Waz discussed #Purdue's commitment to an aggressive style of play. It's an approach that has played well for the #Boilers during their 21-3 run since April 20. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/x5iG2wsGxM
-- Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 30, 2018
PURDUE LEADERS VS. REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
16-Game Totals
Ben Nisle: .400, 6 2B, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 8 R, .418 OBP, 2 Sac Flies, 2 SB
Skyler Hunter: .344, 2 2B, 3B, 5 RBI, 15 R, .425 OBP, 3 SB
Alec Olund: .343, 2 2B, 3 RBI, 3 R, .378 OBP, 2 2B
Harry Shipley: .323, 4 2B, 3B, 13 RBI, 12 R, .403 OBP, 2 Sac Bunts
Nick Evarts: .303, 3 2B, 3 RBI, BB, 4 R, 2 Sac Bunts, 2 SB
Tanner Andrews: 5 GS, 27 2/3 IP, 30 H, 18 BB, 18 K, 4.88 ERA, .278 B/Avg.
Matt Moore: 6 App, 6 2/3 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 6 K, 2.70 ERA, .100 B/Avg.
Trent Johnson: 5 App, 9 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 BB, 9 K, 2.89 ERA, .235 B/Avg.
REGIONAL EXPERIENCE
Third baseman Evan Warden was a freshman at Morehead State in 2015 when the Eagles won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament title to qualify for an NCAA Regional hosted by Louisville. With Purdue back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2012 Big Ten championship season, Warden is the only active Boilermaker to be on a regional roster. He did not see action for the Eagles in the 2015 regional.
However, all four members of the Purdue coaching staff have NCAA Regional experience.
Head Coach Mark Wasikowski: 2 NCAA Regionals as a player at Pepperdine. 14 NCAA Regionals as an assistant coach -- 7 with Arizona, 4 with Oregon, 2 with Florida and 1 with Southeast Missouri State.
Assistant Coach Wally Crancer: 1 NCAA Regional as a player at Georgia Tech. 2 NCAA Regionals as an assistant coach at Georgia Tech.
Assistant Coach Steve Holm: 2 NCAA Regionals as a player at Oral Roberts. 1 NCAA Regional as an assistant coach at Sacramento State.
Assistant Coach Greg Goff: 8 NCAA Regionals as a coach: 1 as the head coach at Campbell, 1 as the head coach at Louisiana Tech, 1 as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri State, 2 as the head coach at Montevallo (DII) and 3 as an assistant coach at Delta State (DII).
Houston pitching coach Terry Rooney worked as an assistant coach under Goff at Alabama last year. Goff was also a head coach in the state of North Carolina for seven years at Campbell (Buies Creek, 50 miles south of Chapel Hill).
As a senior at Georgia Tech, Crancer played at UNC'S Boshamer Stadium in 2007. Following that season, the ballpark underwent major renovations and did not reopen until February 2009.
HUNTER RACKS UP THE HITS
Skyler Hunter has a hit from both sides of the plate in seven different games this season. The switch-hitter accomplished the feat twice at the Big Ten Tournament as part of three-hit efforts vs. Ohio State and Minnesota. Hunter also recorded hits as both a right- and left-handed batter vs. Western Michigan (games 2 and 3), Notre Dame (game 2), Virginia Tech and Indiana (game 2).
Hunter has reached base safely in all 24 games of the Boilermakers' impressive second-half surge, during which they've compiled a 21-3 record. He's batting .333 (31-for-93) with nine doubles, 23 RBI and 23 runs scored. But it's actually Alec Olund that leads the team in hits (34-for-86, .395) since April 20, even though he missed one game. More team leaders over the last six weekends of excellence...
Nick Dalesandro: stolen bases (16 of 18) and runs scored (24)
Jacson McGowan: walks (25) and on-base percentage (.477)
Harry Shipley: RBI (23)
Over the last 24 games, Purdue has drawn 157 free passes (123 walks, 34 HBP) vs. 133 strikeouts. Dalesandro (17 vs. 11), Shipley (14 vs. 12) and Charlie Nasuti (5 vs. 2) both have more walks than strikeouts while McGowan (25 vs. 25), Hunter (10 vs. 10) and Tyler Powers (10 vs. 10) have an equal numbers of walks as strikeouts.
BACK IN CAROLINA WHERE IT ALL BEGAN FOR THREE BOILERMAKERS
Seniors Harry Shipley, Evan Kennedy and Alec Olund all made their collegiate debuts in the state of North Carolina. Purdue opened its 2015 season with a weekend series at Western Carolina in Cullowhee. Shipley and Kennedy both drove in a run in the 2015 season opener, Shipley via a two-out single and Kennedy via a sacrifice fly.
The 2006 Boilermakers played a weekend series at UNC's Boshamer Stadium, winning the opener of the three-game set in early March. The Boilermakers have six wins vs. nationally ranked teams this year. The April 6 victory at No. 10 Indiana was their first vs. a top 10-ranked opponent since beating No. 2/3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill in 2006.
BENCHMARKS IN SIGHT THIS WEEKEND
Tanner Andrews -- 93 innings in 2018. The senior has an opportunity to join 2012 Big Ten Pitcher of the Year Joe Haase (102) as the only Boilermakers to pitch 100 innings in a season. With Andrews and Gareth Stroh in line to make their 16th starts this weekend, they'll join Lance Breedlove and Haase from the 2012 team as the only Purdue pitchers to start more than 15 games in a season.
Harry Shipley -- Career Totals: 48 steals, 98 walks, 219 games played. The senior will become just the sixth player in program history to play in 220 career games. He also has an opportunity to be the first Boilermaker with 50 steals and 100 walks in his career. Only six Purdue players have reached the 50 career steals benchmark. Shipley would be the 14th Boilermaker to reach the century mark for career walks.
Jacson McGowan -- 49 walks in 2018. Considering McGowan busted out of a slump with a 6-for-13, 7-RBI showing at the Big Ten Tournament, it seems like a lock that the junior will be walked at least once this weekend. He'd become just the third Purdue player with 50 walks in a season, joining Dan Black (62) in 2009 and Brandon Bell (51) in 1994.
Ross Learnard -- 19 career saves. Surprisingly, the Boilermakers won their first three games at the Big Ten Tournament without having to use their All-American reliever. He's already established a single-season record with 15 saves this year and would join current big leaguer Nick Wittgren (22, 2011-12) as the only Boilermakers with 20 career saves if he records the final out of a close game this weekend.
Nick Dalesandro -- 26 steals in 2018. The junior was a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts at the Big Ten Tournament giving himself a chance to reach 30 steals. Only two Purdue players -- Jeff Allison (33) in 1987 and Dave Scheitlin (30) in 1991 -- have swiped 30 bags in a season.