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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (0-3, 38-21 in 2018) at No. 14 Texas (3-1, 42-23 in 2018)
Friday to Sunday, Feb. 22 to 24 / All 4 Games on Longhorn Network
Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET / Saturday Doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET / Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET
UFCU Disch-Falk Field / Austin, Texas
All-Time Series: Texas leads 3-0
Last Series: No. 1 Texas swept a 3-game set (March 2005)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Dalton Parker (Jr, RHP) vs. UT's Bryce Elder (So, RHP)
Saturday Game 1: Ryan Beard (Sr, LHP) vs. UT's Blair Henley (Jr, RHP)
Saturday Game 2: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. Coy Cobb (Fr, RHP)
Sunday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. UT's Matt Whelan (So, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball challenges itself against another 40-win opponent from a season ago, taking on College World Series qualifier and 14th-ranked Texas in the program's first visit to Austin since 2005.
The Boilermakers have four-game series on the schedule each of the next two weekends. Game times this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field are set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. It's a scheduled doubleheader Saturday.
Longhorn Network is televising all four games live this weekend. Former big leaguers and Texas alumni Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell will be on the call. To be able to stream the LHN on ESPN's platforms, a pay-TV subscription that includes the LHN is required. There are no pay-per-view options unfortunately. Members of the Purdue Athletics communications staff called various restaurants around Greater Lafayette to inquire if any had the Longhorn Network on their cable packages. Both Lafayette-area Buffalo Wild Wings reported they have LHN, meaning other B-Dubs in the Midwest could also have the ESPN-operated network. Bruno's Pizza in West Lafayette also reports it has the Longhorn Network.
With last weekend's opponent Southern Miss ranked 21st, Purdue is opening a season against a pair of nationally ranked foes for the first time since playing three straight in 2001 at a tournament hosted by Rice. The Boilermakers upset the top-ranked Owls in their season opener that year.
Texas was also ranked No. 1 in the country the last time Purdue played the Longhorns. They had finished as the runner-up at the College World Series in 2004 and went on to win the NCAA title in 2005, the most recent of their six College World Series championships.
Texas has made a record 36 appearances at the College World Series, including three this decade.
SCENE SETTERS
• The Longhorns and the Boilermakers both went 10 innings in their season openers. Texas scored twice in the 10th to win a 3-1 pitcher's duel at Louisiana after the home team scored in the ninth to extend the game. Purdue was also unable to close out a season-opening win in the ninth. Southern Miss added a two-out run in the 10th to complete the comeback.
• The Boilermakers are making their fifth trip to the state of Texas in the last six years, playing games in Houston (2014), Corpus Christi (2015), San Marcos (2017) and San Antonio (2018).
• The four-game series is Purdue's first against a single opponent since 2017 trips to Texas State, Cal State Northridge and Santa Clara. Skyler Hunter hit safely in every game of all three series. The Boilermakers swept Santa Clara.
• Purdue is squaring off against a College World Series qualifier from the previous season for the first time since 2015 vs. Louisville. Indiana in 2014 was the last weekend series opponent.
MORE ABOUT THE OPENING WEEKEND IN MISSISSIPPI
• Purdue held at least a two-run lead in all three games at Southern Miss, but a 20-4 scoring deficit from the sixth through 10th innings proved to be the difference. The Boilermakers outscored USM 11-7 from innings one through five.
• Purdue's starting pitchers – Dalton Parker, Ryan Beard and Andrew Bohm – surrendered eight earned runs on 19 hits over a combined 13 2/3 innings. They gave the Boilermakers a chance to win all three games in part by surrendering only two extra-base hits and four walks. Led by five zeros from Beard, they combined for 10 scoreless innings.
• Purdue relievers allowed nine of 14 inherited base runners to score (64 percent). Kyle Wade, who escaped a bases-loaded jam Sunday in his college debut, and Matt Moore were the only men out of the 'pen to strand inherited runners. Moore kept an inherited runner from scoring while facing the top half of the lineup both Friday and Sunday.
• Purdue pitching issued 24 free passes (19 walks, 5 HBP) at Southern Miss. Nineteen of those free passes were allowed by the relievers in 12 innings. The Boilermakers actually had a 22-18 edge in strikeouts, but issued 13 more free passes.
• The Boilermakers were swept in a series in which they held the lead in all three games for the first time since May 2014 at Minnesota.
PURDUE'S RECENT TRIPS TO TEXAS
• February 2018 – Purdue goes 3-1 to win the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, scoring five times in the ninth inning Sunday to overcome a 7-3 deficit and beat Notre Dame in the championship game. The Boilermakers also won in walk-off fashion vs. Incarnate Word after being down by a run with two outs in the ninth inning. Skyler Hunter scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning vs. UIW and delivered a big two-run double in the comeback vs. UND. In Purdue's first victory that weekend vs. Saint Louis, Bo Hofstra retired all 11 batters he faced to close out the win.
• February 2018 – Purdue was scheduled to open the season with a series at Baylor, but the series was canceled after the team's flight from Midway to Dallas was grounded due to fog Thursday in Chicago. Instead, the Boilermakers played a series against Western Michigan at the Perfect Game complex in Georgia. WMU's flight from Midway to Houston was also canceled.
• February 2017 – Purdue opened the Mark Wasikowski era by splitting a four-game series at Texas State. The Boilermakers were victorious in the first two games, winning a season opener for the first time since 2013. Dalton Parker worked five innings of one-hit relief to earn the victory in game 2. Bryce Bonner put together eight productive plate appearances in nine trips to the dish, finishing the weekend 4-for-5 with a triple, four RBI, three walks and a sac fly. Skyler Hunter was 7-for-15 with a .529 on-base percentage.
• February 2015 – Purdue rallied for a pair of last at-bat wins vs. Sam Houston State on the same day at a tournament at the Minor League ballpark in Corpus Christi. The Boilermakers scored twice in the bottom of the 12th of game 1 and used a three-run top of the ninth to take the nightcap. SHSU had played in three straight NCAA Regionals under current Texas head coach David Pierce, who made the move to Tulane in time for the 2015 season.
PURDUE'S TEXAS NATIVES & CONNECTIONS
• Bryce Bonner – Allen, Texas (Dallas Jesuit HS)
• Trevor Cheaney – Muenster, Texas (Muenster HS/Paris JC)
• Nick Evarts – Colleyville, Texas (Grapevine HS/Weatherford JC)
• Additionally, Johnny Sage's mom Diana played softball at Texas in 1989 before enlisting in the Navy.
• First-year assistant coaches Cooper Fouts and Elliott Cribby also have ties to Texas universities. Fouts was a four-year starting catcher at Texas Tech from 2003 to 2005. He began his coaching career at Lubbock Christian University in 2006. Cribby's career as a college pitching coach began with a season at Abilene Christian in 2013.
OPENING WEEKEND PRODUCTION SPLITS
Redshirt freshmen Patrick W. Smith and Hayden Wynja are included with returnees
• Returning Hitters: 15-for-67 (.224), 4 2B, 3 BB, 10 R, 2 Sac Flies, 2 Sac Bunts
• New Hitters: 10-for-35 (.286), 2B, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 5 R, Sac Fly, Sac Bunt
• Returning Pitchers: 3 GS, 11 App, 20 2/3 IP, 28 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 15 BB, 2 HBP, 17 K
• New Pitchers: 5 App, 5 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 3 HBP, 5 K
QUICK LOOK AT TEXAS
• Third-year head coach David Pierce was hired to replace college baseball legend Augie Garrido in June 2016. As a head coach, all seven of Pierce's teams have qualified for NCAA Regionals during his stops at Sam Houston State (2012-14), Tulane (2015-16) and Texas (2017-18).
• The Longhorns defeated Purdue's Big Ten rival Indiana in the championship game of the Austin Regional last year and then caught a break when Tennessee Tech came through the loser's bracket to win the Oxford Regional as a No. 2 seed. Texas dropped its Super Regional opener vs. Tennessee Tech, but came back to win the next two games to advance to Omaha.
• Austin Todd (.444/.500/.556), Ryan Reynolds (.429/.579/.786) and Duke Ellis (.333/.619/.417) have been on-base machines over the first four games of the season. Reynolds and Ellis were both starters a year ago. Zach Zubia is also back after hitting 11 home runs in 2018, ranking second on the team to ABCA National Player of the Year Kody Clemens (Roger's youngest son).
• Sophomore Bryce Elder impressed as UT's opening day starter after making all but one of his 22 appearances last season in relief. He worked eight-plus innings of four-hit ball at Louisiana, racking up nine strikeouts vs. no walks. The only run he was charged with scored after he left the mound in the ninth inning. He earned six wins and two saves last year despite a 5.55 ERA and .290 batting average against in 35 2/3 innings.
• Elder was one of eight Texas pitchers to record a save last season. All three of the UT's primary weekend starters had at least one save, including Blair Henley. Back for his junior season after an All-Big 12 campaign, Henley was chased after facing only 11 batters, surrendering 4 runs on 5 hits, in game 2 at Louisiana. Texas actually never trailed in the game though thanks to a five-run second inning.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (0-3, 38-21 in 2018) at No. 14 Texas (3-1, 42-23 in 2018)
Friday to Sunday, Feb. 22 to 24 / All 4 Games on Longhorn Network
Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET / Saturday Doubleheader at 2 p.m. ET / Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET
UFCU Disch-Falk Field / Austin, Texas
All-Time Series: Texas leads 3-0
Last Series: No. 1 Texas swept a 3-game set (March 2005)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Dalton Parker (Jr, RHP) vs. UT's Bryce Elder (So, RHP)
Saturday Game 1: Ryan Beard (Sr, LHP) vs. UT's Blair Henley (Jr, RHP)
Saturday Game 2: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. Coy Cobb (Fr, RHP)
Sunday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. UT's Matt Whelan (So, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball challenges itself against another 40-win opponent from a season ago, taking on College World Series qualifier and 14th-ranked Texas in the program's first visit to Austin since 2005.
The Boilermakers have four-game series on the schedule each of the next two weekends. Game times this weekend at UFCU Disch-Falk Field are set for Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, Saturday at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 1:30 p.m. It's a scheduled doubleheader Saturday.
Longhorn Network is televising all four games live this weekend. Former big leaguers and Texas alumni Keith Moreland and Greg Swindell will be on the call. To be able to stream the LHN on ESPN's platforms, a pay-TV subscription that includes the LHN is required. There are no pay-per-view options unfortunately. Members of the Purdue Athletics communications staff called various restaurants around Greater Lafayette to inquire if any had the Longhorn Network on their cable packages. Both Lafayette-area Buffalo Wild Wings reported they have LHN, meaning other B-Dubs in the Midwest could also have the ESPN-operated network. Bruno's Pizza in West Lafayette also reports it has the Longhorn Network.
With last weekend's opponent Southern Miss ranked 21st, Purdue is opening a season against a pair of nationally ranked foes for the first time since playing three straight in 2001 at a tournament hosted by Rice. The Boilermakers upset the top-ranked Owls in their season opener that year.
Texas was also ranked No. 1 in the country the last time Purdue played the Longhorns. They had finished as the runner-up at the College World Series in 2004 and went on to win the NCAA title in 2005, the most recent of their six College World Series championships.
Texas has made a record 36 appearances at the College World Series, including three this decade.
SCENE SETTERS
• The Longhorns and the Boilermakers both went 10 innings in their season openers. Texas scored twice in the 10th to win a 3-1 pitcher's duel at Louisiana after the home team scored in the ninth to extend the game. Purdue was also unable to close out a season-opening win in the ninth. Southern Miss added a two-out run in the 10th to complete the comeback.
• The Boilermakers are making their fifth trip to the state of Texas in the last six years, playing games in Houston (2014), Corpus Christi (2015), San Marcos (2017) and San Antonio (2018).
• The four-game series is Purdue's first against a single opponent since 2017 trips to Texas State, Cal State Northridge and Santa Clara. Skyler Hunter hit safely in every game of all three series. The Boilermakers swept Santa Clara.
• Purdue is squaring off against a College World Series qualifier from the previous season for the first time since 2015 vs. Louisville. Indiana in 2014 was the last weekend series opponent.
MORE ABOUT THE OPENING WEEKEND IN MISSISSIPPI
• Purdue held at least a two-run lead in all three games at Southern Miss, but a 20-4 scoring deficit from the sixth through 10th innings proved to be the difference. The Boilermakers outscored USM 11-7 from innings one through five.
• Purdue's starting pitchers – Dalton Parker, Ryan Beard and Andrew Bohm – surrendered eight earned runs on 19 hits over a combined 13 2/3 innings. They gave the Boilermakers a chance to win all three games in part by surrendering only two extra-base hits and four walks. Led by five zeros from Beard, they combined for 10 scoreless innings.
• Purdue relievers allowed nine of 14 inherited base runners to score (64 percent). Kyle Wade, who escaped a bases-loaded jam Sunday in his college debut, and Matt Moore were the only men out of the 'pen to strand inherited runners. Moore kept an inherited runner from scoring while facing the top half of the lineup both Friday and Sunday.
• Purdue pitching issued 24 free passes (19 walks, 5 HBP) at Southern Miss. Nineteen of those free passes were allowed by the relievers in 12 innings. The Boilermakers actually had a 22-18 edge in strikeouts, but issued 13 more free passes.
• The Boilermakers were swept in a series in which they held the lead in all three games for the first time since May 2014 at Minnesota.
PURDUE'S RECENT TRIPS TO TEXAS
• February 2018 – Purdue goes 3-1 to win the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio, scoring five times in the ninth inning Sunday to overcome a 7-3 deficit and beat Notre Dame in the championship game. The Boilermakers also won in walk-off fashion vs. Incarnate Word after being down by a run with two outs in the ninth inning. Skyler Hunter scored the game-winning run in the 10th inning vs. UIW and delivered a big two-run double in the comeback vs. UND. In Purdue's first victory that weekend vs. Saint Louis, Bo Hofstra retired all 11 batters he faced to close out the win.
• February 2018 – Purdue was scheduled to open the season with a series at Baylor, but the series was canceled after the team's flight from Midway to Dallas was grounded due to fog Thursday in Chicago. Instead, the Boilermakers played a series against Western Michigan at the Perfect Game complex in Georgia. WMU's flight from Midway to Houston was also canceled.
• February 2017 – Purdue opened the Mark Wasikowski era by splitting a four-game series at Texas State. The Boilermakers were victorious in the first two games, winning a season opener for the first time since 2013. Dalton Parker worked five innings of one-hit relief to earn the victory in game 2. Bryce Bonner put together eight productive plate appearances in nine trips to the dish, finishing the weekend 4-for-5 with a triple, four RBI, three walks and a sac fly. Skyler Hunter was 7-for-15 with a .529 on-base percentage.
• February 2015 – Purdue rallied for a pair of last at-bat wins vs. Sam Houston State on the same day at a tournament at the Minor League ballpark in Corpus Christi. The Boilermakers scored twice in the bottom of the 12th of game 1 and used a three-run top of the ninth to take the nightcap. SHSU had played in three straight NCAA Regionals under current Texas head coach David Pierce, who made the move to Tulane in time for the 2015 season.
PURDUE'S TEXAS NATIVES & CONNECTIONS
• Bryce Bonner – Allen, Texas (Dallas Jesuit HS)
• Trevor Cheaney – Muenster, Texas (Muenster HS/Paris JC)
• Nick Evarts – Colleyville, Texas (Grapevine HS/Weatherford JC)
• Additionally, Johnny Sage's mom Diana played softball at Texas in 1989 before enlisting in the Navy.
• First-year assistant coaches Cooper Fouts and Elliott Cribby also have ties to Texas universities. Fouts was a four-year starting catcher at Texas Tech from 2003 to 2005. He began his coaching career at Lubbock Christian University in 2006. Cribby's career as a college pitching coach began with a season at Abilene Christian in 2013.
OPENING WEEKEND PRODUCTION SPLITS
Redshirt freshmen Patrick W. Smith and Hayden Wynja are included with returnees
• Returning Hitters: 15-for-67 (.224), 4 2B, 3 BB, 10 R, 2 Sac Flies, 2 Sac Bunts
• New Hitters: 10-for-35 (.286), 2B, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 5 R, Sac Fly, Sac Bunt
• Returning Pitchers: 3 GS, 11 App, 20 2/3 IP, 28 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 15 BB, 2 HBP, 17 K
• New Pitchers: 5 App, 5 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 3 HBP, 5 K
QUICK LOOK AT TEXAS
• Third-year head coach David Pierce was hired to replace college baseball legend Augie Garrido in June 2016. As a head coach, all seven of Pierce's teams have qualified for NCAA Regionals during his stops at Sam Houston State (2012-14), Tulane (2015-16) and Texas (2017-18).
• The Longhorns defeated Purdue's Big Ten rival Indiana in the championship game of the Austin Regional last year and then caught a break when Tennessee Tech came through the loser's bracket to win the Oxford Regional as a No. 2 seed. Texas dropped its Super Regional opener vs. Tennessee Tech, but came back to win the next two games to advance to Omaha.
• Austin Todd (.444/.500/.556), Ryan Reynolds (.429/.579/.786) and Duke Ellis (.333/.619/.417) have been on-base machines over the first four games of the season. Reynolds and Ellis were both starters a year ago. Zach Zubia is also back after hitting 11 home runs in 2018, ranking second on the team to ABCA National Player of the Year Kody Clemens (Roger's youngest son).
• Sophomore Bryce Elder impressed as UT's opening day starter after making all but one of his 22 appearances last season in relief. He worked eight-plus innings of four-hit ball at Louisiana, racking up nine strikeouts vs. no walks. The only run he was charged with scored after he left the mound in the ninth inning. He earned six wins and two saves last year despite a 5.55 ERA and .290 batting average against in 35 2/3 innings.
• Elder was one of eight Texas pitchers to record a save last season. All three of the UT's primary weekend starters had at least one save, including Blair Henley. Back for his junior season after an All-Big 12 campaign, Henley was chased after facing only 11 batters, surrendering 4 runs on 5 hits, in game 2 at Louisiana. Texas actually never trailed in the game though thanks to a five-run second inning.