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WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Purdue (5-15) at Northwestern (5-11)
Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 23 at 4 p.m., 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Rocky and Berenice Miller Park / Evanston, Illinois
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 114-94-2 / All-Time in Evanston: Purdue leads 51-48-1
2018: Purdue swept a 3-game set (May 4-6 in West Lafayette)
Last Series in Evanston: Northwestern swept a 3-game set (May 2016)
Purdue's Last Series Win in Evanston: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2012)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. Quinn Lavelle (So, LHP)
Saturday: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. Hank Christie (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: Ryan Beard (Sr, LHP) vs. TBA for Northwestern
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball opens Big Ten Conference play on the road for the third straight year, with a trip to Northwestern doubling as the Boilermakers' sixth consecutive weekend away from home to begin the season.
Three day games are on the schedule this weekend in Evanston. First pitch at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park is slated for 4 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The Wildcats' home field was renovated effectively midway through this decade, but Northwestern and Rutgers remain the only Big Ten teams without lights. Michigan State had lights installed this school year.
Purdue is opening Big Ten play against NU for the first time since 2009. The Boilermakers have won five of their last seven conference openers dating back to the 2012 Big Ten championship season. Last year, Purdue swept its conference-opening weekend (at Penn State) for the first time since 1985.
Each of the last three seasons, the Boilermakers and Wildcats have squared off during the first weekend of May as Purdue was wrapping up final exams. This year its Northwestern, which utilizes a quarters-based academic calendar, that was idle from midweek play due to final exams. Dating back to 2013, three of the last four Purdue-NU series have been played in West Lafayette.
Five Big Ten teams don't open league play until next weekend – Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers. The other three conference series this weekend includes: Iowa at Indiana, Michigan State at Northwestern and Minnesota at Penn State.
The Wildcats are coached by Spencer Allen, was who was an assistant at Purdue during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He helped recruit various members of the Boilermakers' 2012 Big Ten title team. In his second year in Evanston, Allen led NU to the championship game of the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. It was the Wildcats' first Big Ten Tournament berth since 2010 and their first trip to the title game of the event since 1984. A year later, it was the Boilermakers that made the deep run to Sunday of the conference tournament.
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Surprisingly, the Boilermakers have not play a game in the state of Illinois since their 2016 series at Northwestern. Purdue also visits Champaign-Urbana later this season, where it has not played since April 2015.
• The Boilermakers have three Chicagoland natives on their roster this season – senior pitcher Patrick J. Smith (Schaumburg), freshman infielder Ryan Howe (Mount Prospect) and freshman pitcher James Kulak (Naperville).
• Smith is moving up to Friday in the weekend rotation. Over the last month, he's made his first start as a Boilermaker and earned his first win. The lefty has put together quality starts at Texas (6 IP, 5 H, 3 R) and Jacksonville State (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 8 K) this season. Of the nine runs he has allowed as a starting pitcher, eight have scored in the first inning. Smith has allowed only two extra-base hits, both doubles, in 21 innings.
• Howe (2nd, 3rd, SS) is one of three Boilermakers that has already started games at three different infield positions. Tyler Powers (2nd, 3rd, SS) and Owen Jansen (1st, 2nd, 3rd) have done likewise. Meanwhile, Nick Evarts has started games at both corner infield positions while also seeing action at both second base and shortstop.
• Skyler Hunter (17 consecutive games) and Ben Nisle (11) both ended the 2018 conference season riding long reached base safely streaks. Over his first two seasons, Hunter has reached base safely in 43 of Purdue's 47 Big Ten games. The junior will look to record his 50th career multi-hit game this weekend.
• Cole McKenzie is riding a 14-game reached base safely streak. It's already the third-longest career streak among active Boilermakers. He's batting .400 (14-for-35) in the last nine games.
• Purdue pitchers have racked up 110 strikeouts in their last 12 games, averaging 9.2 Ks per contest. The Boilermakers have recorded 10-plus strikeouts seven times in the last 12 games, including a double-figure total in four consecutive games for the first time since April 2010.
HIGHLIGHTS OF LAST YEAR'S SWEEP OF THE WILDCATS
• During its 13-game win streak last season, Purdue swept Northwestern at home in a series of at least three games for the first time ever.
• Skyler Hunter connected for his first collegiate home run in the game 1 win. The three-run shot in the fifth inning gave the Boilermakers a 5-2 lead, but they trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth. Bryce Bonner's two-run, pinch-hit single was the game-tying hit in the three-run rally. Purdue won the game 8-7, with Bo Hofstra earning the victory after he retired all seven batters he faced over 2 2/3 innings of relief.
• The Boilermakers rode an early five-run inning to victory in both games 2 and 3. Hunter finished the weekend with 7 RBI while hitting safely in all three games of the series.
• Ryan Beard earned the win in game 3 with 4 1/3 innings of two-hit relief, his longest outing out of the bullpen on the season. Starter Trent Johnson surrendered only one hit over 3 2/3 innings, but struggled with his command while issuing five walks. The Wildcats left the bases loaded in three different innings.
• Ben Nisle drove in a run in each of his first three plate appearances of the game 3 win.
• Northwestern's announced probable starters, Quinn Lavelle and Hank Christie, also started the first two games of last year's series.
WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Purdue (5-15) at Northwestern (5-11)
Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 23 at 4 p.m., 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. ET / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Rocky and Berenice Miller Park / Evanston, Illinois
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 114-94-2 / All-Time in Evanston: Purdue leads 51-48-1
2018: Purdue swept a 3-game set (May 4-6 in West Lafayette)
Last Series in Evanston: Northwestern swept a 3-game set (May 2016)
Purdue's Last Series Win in Evanston: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2012)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. Quinn Lavelle (So, LHP)
Saturday: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. Hank Christie (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: Ryan Beard (Sr, LHP) vs. TBA for Northwestern
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball opens Big Ten Conference play on the road for the third straight year, with a trip to Northwestern doubling as the Boilermakers' sixth consecutive weekend away from home to begin the season.
Three day games are on the schedule this weekend in Evanston. First pitch at Rocky and Berenice Miller Park is slated for 4 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The Wildcats' home field was renovated effectively midway through this decade, but Northwestern and Rutgers remain the only Big Ten teams without lights. Michigan State had lights installed this school year.
Purdue is opening Big Ten play against NU for the first time since 2009. The Boilermakers have won five of their last seven conference openers dating back to the 2012 Big Ten championship season. Last year, Purdue swept its conference-opening weekend (at Penn State) for the first time since 1985.
Each of the last three seasons, the Boilermakers and Wildcats have squared off during the first weekend of May as Purdue was wrapping up final exams. This year its Northwestern, which utilizes a quarters-based academic calendar, that was idle from midweek play due to final exams. Dating back to 2013, three of the last four Purdue-NU series have been played in West Lafayette.
Five Big Ten teams don't open league play until next weekend – Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State and Rutgers. The other three conference series this weekend includes: Iowa at Indiana, Michigan State at Northwestern and Minnesota at Penn State.
The Wildcats are coached by Spencer Allen, was who was an assistant at Purdue during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He helped recruit various members of the Boilermakers' 2012 Big Ten title team. In his second year in Evanston, Allen led NU to the championship game of the 2017 Big Ten Tournament. It was the Wildcats' first Big Ten Tournament berth since 2010 and their first trip to the title game of the event since 1984. A year later, it was the Boilermakers that made the deep run to Sunday of the conference tournament.
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Surprisingly, the Boilermakers have not play a game in the state of Illinois since their 2016 series at Northwestern. Purdue also visits Champaign-Urbana later this season, where it has not played since April 2015.
• The Boilermakers have three Chicagoland natives on their roster this season – senior pitcher Patrick J. Smith (Schaumburg), freshman infielder Ryan Howe (Mount Prospect) and freshman pitcher James Kulak (Naperville).
• Smith is moving up to Friday in the weekend rotation. Over the last month, he's made his first start as a Boilermaker and earned his first win. The lefty has put together quality starts at Texas (6 IP, 5 H, 3 R) and Jacksonville State (6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 8 K) this season. Of the nine runs he has allowed as a starting pitcher, eight have scored in the first inning. Smith has allowed only two extra-base hits, both doubles, in 21 innings.
• Howe (2nd, 3rd, SS) is one of three Boilermakers that has already started games at three different infield positions. Tyler Powers (2nd, 3rd, SS) and Owen Jansen (1st, 2nd, 3rd) have done likewise. Meanwhile, Nick Evarts has started games at both corner infield positions while also seeing action at both second base and shortstop.
• Skyler Hunter (17 consecutive games) and Ben Nisle (11) both ended the 2018 conference season riding long reached base safely streaks. Over his first two seasons, Hunter has reached base safely in 43 of Purdue's 47 Big Ten games. The junior will look to record his 50th career multi-hit game this weekend.
• Cole McKenzie is riding a 14-game reached base safely streak. It's already the third-longest career streak among active Boilermakers. He's batting .400 (14-for-35) in the last nine games.
• Purdue pitchers have racked up 110 strikeouts in their last 12 games, averaging 9.2 Ks per contest. The Boilermakers have recorded 10-plus strikeouts seven times in the last 12 games, including a double-figure total in four consecutive games for the first time since April 2010.
HIGHLIGHTS OF LAST YEAR'S SWEEP OF THE WILDCATS
• During its 13-game win streak last season, Purdue swept Northwestern at home in a series of at least three games for the first time ever.
• Skyler Hunter connected for his first collegiate home run in the game 1 win. The three-run shot in the fifth inning gave the Boilermakers a 5-2 lead, but they trailed 7-5 entering the bottom of the eighth. Bryce Bonner's two-run, pinch-hit single was the game-tying hit in the three-run rally. Purdue won the game 8-7, with Bo Hofstra earning the victory after he retired all seven batters he faced over 2 2/3 innings of relief.
• The Boilermakers rode an early five-run inning to victory in both games 2 and 3. Hunter finished the weekend with 7 RBI while hitting safely in all three games of the series.
• Ryan Beard earned the win in game 3 with 4 1/3 innings of two-hit relief, his longest outing out of the bullpen on the season. Starter Trent Johnson surrendered only one hit over 3 2/3 innings, but struggled with his command while issuing five walks. The Wildcats left the bases loaded in three different innings.
• Ben Nisle drove in a run in each of his first three plate appearances of the game 3 win.
• Northwestern's announced probable starters, Quinn Lavelle and Hank Christie, also started the first two games of last year's series.