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April 26 Update: Saturday's game has been moved up to 11 a.m. ET.
WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Southeast Missouri State (19-23, 7-14 OVC) at Purdue (15-25, 6-8 Big Ten)
Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28 at 6 p.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 3-2 / All-Time in West Lafayette: First Meetings
Last Series: Purdue won 2 of 3 (March 2017 in Cape Girardeau)
First Meetings: Split a 2-game series (February 2009 in Cape Girardeau)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (So, RHP) vs. SEMO's Dylan Dodd (Jr, LHP)
Saturday: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. TBA for SEMO
Sunday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. SEMO's Noah Niznik (Fr, LHP)
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday: First 100 fans receive a free pretzel for National Pretzel Day
Saturday: Little League Day and Purdue Baseball cards set No. 2 giveaway
Sunday: Sunglasses (first 300) and Coke Float (first 100) giveaways; PUDM/Riley Family Day
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's nine-game homestand continues with a first-time visit from Southeast Missouri State, the Ohio Valley Conference university where Mark Wasikowski began his coaching career in the late 1990s.
First pitch at Alexander Field is slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The middle game of the series Saturday did officially become a day game due to rain in the forecast for the afternoon and evening.
Saturday marks the one-year memorial of the passing of 11-year-old Landyn Griffith, a youth ballplayer from Lafayette who helped inspire the Boilermakers' late-season surge during the successful 2018 season. Even while battling brain cancer, Landyn was in attendance and honored for his courage prior to the April 25 win vs. Indiana. Less than 48 hours later, Landyn passed away. His No. 99 jersey has been a constant in Purdue's dugout ever since. The Boilermakers will be wearing another commemorative "LG" patch in Landyn's memory. Special uniform tops will also be worn Sunday for the rescheduled Riley Children's Hospital/Purdue Dance Marathon game. The uniforms will be available for purchase via silent auction, with proceeds benefitting Riley.
Wasikowski, Purdue's third-year head coach, was an assistant at SEMO during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. It was in Cape Girardeau where he first joined forces with current Purdue assistant Greg Goff, who was an assistant at SEMO from 1998 to 1999. Working under SEMO's all-time wins leader Mark Hogan, Wasikowski and Goff helped the Redhawks win the 1998 OVC Tournament, which earned the program its first NCAA Regional appearance at the Division I level.
Wasikowski and Goff both went on to become very successful college coaches. As an assistant, Wasikowski helped lead Florida, Arizona and Oregon to a combined 13 NCAA Regional appearances before coming to Purdue for his first opportunity as a head coach in the summer of 2016. Goff was hired as the pitching coach at Kentucky in 1999. He became a head coach for the first time in the summer of 2003 and won over 450 games during stops at Campbell, Louisiana Tech, Alabama and Montevallo (Ala.).
After Wasikowski and Goff moved on, Southeast Missouri remained a yearly contender in the OVC. The Redhawks have qualified for the OVC Tournament every year since 1995. They've maintained the streak through conference expansion and fluctuations in size of the tournament field, with it finally expanding from six to eight teams in 2017. The 24-year streak is a conference record, but could be in jeopardy this season. SEMO is in ninth place at 7-14 and plays two of its final three OVC series on the road. The Redhawks are 16-13 at home, but just 3-10 away from Cape Girardeau.
Purdue's series win at SEMO in March 2017 was its first under Wasikowski and the program's first in non-conference play on the road since March 2013 at Evansville. The Redhawks were the three-time defending OVC regular-season champions at the time. Last year, SEMO won 20 games in league play during a year in which the conference sent both 50-win Tennessee Tech and OVC Tournament champion Morehead State to NCAA Regionals.
Meanwhile, there are four big series around the Big Ten this weekend in what could prove to be a key checkpoint in the Big Ten Tournament chase. The top eight teams in the standings all play each other this weekend. Series wins by the top four – Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa – would help the Boilermakers' chances of qualifying for the eight-team Big Ten Tournament. Ultimately, Purdue will likely need to win at least six of its final nine conference games in May to make it back to the conference tournament for a third straight season. The Boilermakers do have the advantage of playing six of those nine games at home.
BIG TEN WEEKEND SERIES // APRIL 26-28
• Rutgers (7-5) at Michigan (8-3)
• Minnesota (7-5) at Indiana (9-3)
• Illinois (6-6) at Nebraska (11-4)
• Iowa (9-6) at Ohio State (6-6)
• Maryland (6-6) at Penn State (1-13)
• Northwestern (5-7) at Michigan State (1-10)
• Non-Conference: Southeast Missouri State at Purdue (6-8)
PURDUE'S OPEN WEEKENDS IN BIG TEN PLAY SINCE THE LEAGUE EXPANDED IN 2012
• 2012: Lost 2 of 3 at No. 11 UCLA (May 5-6)
• 2013: Swept a 3-game series vs. Southern Illinois (May 3-5)
• 2014: Lost 2 of 3 at Southern Illinois (March 21-23)
• 2015: Swept by Butler in a 3-game split-site series (March 28-29)
• 2016: Won 3 of 4 vs. Cal State Northridge (May 19-22)
• 2017: Swept a 2-game series vs. Saint Louis (April 28-29)
• 2018: Split a 2-game series with Lipscomb (March 23)
STRIKEOUT TOTALS TO WATCH
• 2019 Team Total: 352
• Purdue Single-Season Record: 435 in 2010
• 2019 Strikeouts Per 9 Innings: 9.18
• Purdue's Single-Season for Ks Per 9: 7.76 in 2010
• Trent Johnson's Season & Career Totals: 52 in 34 innings; 91 in 75 innings
• Trent Johnson's Ks Per 9: 13.765 in 2019, 10.920 Career
• Purdue Ks Per 9 Season Records: Randy Minniear 11.65 (min. 30 IP); Chris Bloomer 10.48 (min. 60 IP)
• Purdue Ks Per 9 Career Records: Nick Wittgren 9.196 (min. 75 IP); Sherard Clinkscales 8.724 (min. 125 IP)
McKENZIE'S 8-GAME HIT & ON BASE MULTIPLE TIMES STREAK
• Cole McKenzie is not only riding a season-best eight-game hit streak, the junior has also reached base safely multiple times in all eight games of the streak. He's 14-for-30 with 7 RBI, 7 runs scored and a .528 on-base percentage during the streak, recording five multi-hit games. Include a two-double, three-RBI game at Indiana on April 10, and over the last 10 games he's batting a team-best .410 with 10 RBI.
• In consecutive games – April 21 at Rutgers and April 23 vs. Chicago State – McKenzie was credited with a dead ball base hit. In the series finale at Rutgers, his would-be single thru the right side hit base runner Bryce Bonner, costing McKenzie an RBI because the runner on third base was not allowed to score. In the midweek win vs. Chicago State, he hit the second base umpire with a hot shot over the mound.
• April 13 vs. Iowa (G1): Single, Walk
• April 13 vs. Iowa (G2): Home Run, Single
• April 16 vs. Butler: Single, Single, HBP
• April 19 at Rutgers: Single, Single, Single
• April 20 at Rutgers: Single, Walk
• April 21 at Rutgers: Single, Single
• April 23 vs. Chicago State: Single, Single
• April 24 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne: Walk, Double, Walk
NO WALKS ALLOWED
• Tuesday's win vs. Chicago State marked the third time this season that the Purdue pitching staff did not issue a walk, with all three games coming at home. The Boilermakers' streak of 18 consecutive innings without conceding a base on balls ended in the ninth inning Wednesday vs. Purdue Fort Wayne. It was the program's longest streak since 2012. Since 2005, here's a look at the seasons with the most no-walk games for the Purdue pitching staff.
• 2012: 7
• 2007: 6
• 2011, 2017: 5
• 2008, 2015: 4
• 2005, 2010, 2016, 2019: 3
FASTEST TO 200 CAREER HITS
• Skyler Hunter enters the weekend only nine hits shy of 200. He's in line to become the sixth Boilermaker to reach the milestone as a junior. Here's a look at how many games it took the other five to reach 200 hits.
SKYLER'S CURRENT STREAKS
• 12-Game Hit Streak at Home: 19-for-45 (.422), 2 2B, 3 3B, 4 RBI, 9 R, 8 BB, .509 OBP
• 21-Game Reached Base Safely Streak Overall: 29-for-80 (.363), 6 2B, 5 3B, 8 RBI, 17 R, 13 BB, 3 HBP, .469 OBP
• 25-Game Reached Base Safely Streak at Home: 32-for-94 (.340), 7 2B, 3 3B, HR, 19 RBI, 20 R, 13 BB, .413 OBP
April 26 Update: Saturday's game has been moved up to 11 a.m. ET.
WEEKEND SERIES INFORMATION
Southeast Missouri State (19-23, 7-14 OVC) at Purdue (15-25, 6-8 Big Ten)
Friday, April 26 to Sunday, April 28 at 6 p.m., 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. / BTN Plus on BTN2Go
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
All-Time Series: Purdue leads 3-2 / All-Time in West Lafayette: First Meetings
Last Series: Purdue won 2 of 3 (March 2017 in Cape Girardeau)
First Meetings: Split a 2-game series (February 2009 in Cape Girardeau)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (So, RHP) vs. SEMO's Dylan Dodd (Jr, LHP)
Saturday: Andrew Bohm (R-So, RHP) vs. TBA for SEMO
Sunday: Patrick J. Smith (Sr, LHP) vs. SEMO's Noah Niznik (Fr, LHP)
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday: First 100 fans receive a free pretzel for National Pretzel Day
Saturday: Little League Day and Purdue Baseball cards set No. 2 giveaway
Sunday: Sunglasses (first 300) and Coke Float (first 100) giveaways; PUDM/Riley Family Day
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's nine-game homestand continues with a first-time visit from Southeast Missouri State, the Ohio Valley Conference university where Mark Wasikowski began his coaching career in the late 1990s.
First pitch at Alexander Field is slated for 6 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The middle game of the series Saturday did officially become a day game due to rain in the forecast for the afternoon and evening.
Saturday marks the one-year memorial of the passing of 11-year-old Landyn Griffith, a youth ballplayer from Lafayette who helped inspire the Boilermakers' late-season surge during the successful 2018 season. Even while battling brain cancer, Landyn was in attendance and honored for his courage prior to the April 25 win vs. Indiana. Less than 48 hours later, Landyn passed away. His No. 99 jersey has been a constant in Purdue's dugout ever since. The Boilermakers will be wearing another commemorative "LG" patch in Landyn's memory. Special uniform tops will also be worn Sunday for the rescheduled Riley Children's Hospital/Purdue Dance Marathon game. The uniforms will be available for purchase via silent auction, with proceeds benefitting Riley.
Wasikowski, Purdue's third-year head coach, was an assistant at SEMO during the 1997 and 1998 seasons. It was in Cape Girardeau where he first joined forces with current Purdue assistant Greg Goff, who was an assistant at SEMO from 1998 to 1999. Working under SEMO's all-time wins leader Mark Hogan, Wasikowski and Goff helped the Redhawks win the 1998 OVC Tournament, which earned the program its first NCAA Regional appearance at the Division I level.
Wasikowski and Goff both went on to become very successful college coaches. As an assistant, Wasikowski helped lead Florida, Arizona and Oregon to a combined 13 NCAA Regional appearances before coming to Purdue for his first opportunity as a head coach in the summer of 2016. Goff was hired as the pitching coach at Kentucky in 1999. He became a head coach for the first time in the summer of 2003 and won over 450 games during stops at Campbell, Louisiana Tech, Alabama and Montevallo (Ala.).
After Wasikowski and Goff moved on, Southeast Missouri remained a yearly contender in the OVC. The Redhawks have qualified for the OVC Tournament every year since 1995. They've maintained the streak through conference expansion and fluctuations in size of the tournament field, with it finally expanding from six to eight teams in 2017. The 24-year streak is a conference record, but could be in jeopardy this season. SEMO is in ninth place at 7-14 and plays two of its final three OVC series on the road. The Redhawks are 16-13 at home, but just 3-10 away from Cape Girardeau.
Purdue's series win at SEMO in March 2017 was its first under Wasikowski and the program's first in non-conference play on the road since March 2013 at Evansville. The Redhawks were the three-time defending OVC regular-season champions at the time. Last year, SEMO won 20 games in league play during a year in which the conference sent both 50-win Tennessee Tech and OVC Tournament champion Morehead State to NCAA Regionals.
Meanwhile, there are four big series around the Big Ten this weekend in what could prove to be a key checkpoint in the Big Ten Tournament chase. The top eight teams in the standings all play each other this weekend. Series wins by the top four – Indiana, Nebraska, Michigan and Iowa – would help the Boilermakers' chances of qualifying for the eight-team Big Ten Tournament. Ultimately, Purdue will likely need to win at least six of its final nine conference games in May to make it back to the conference tournament for a third straight season. The Boilermakers do have the advantage of playing six of those nine games at home.
BIG TEN WEEKEND SERIES // APRIL 26-28
• Rutgers (7-5) at Michigan (8-3)
• Minnesota (7-5) at Indiana (9-3)
• Illinois (6-6) at Nebraska (11-4)
• Iowa (9-6) at Ohio State (6-6)
• Maryland (6-6) at Penn State (1-13)
• Northwestern (5-7) at Michigan State (1-10)
• Non-Conference: Southeast Missouri State at Purdue (6-8)
PURDUE'S OPEN WEEKENDS IN BIG TEN PLAY SINCE THE LEAGUE EXPANDED IN 2012
• 2012: Lost 2 of 3 at No. 11 UCLA (May 5-6)
• 2013: Swept a 3-game series vs. Southern Illinois (May 3-5)
• 2014: Lost 2 of 3 at Southern Illinois (March 21-23)
• 2015: Swept by Butler in a 3-game split-site series (March 28-29)
• 2016: Won 3 of 4 vs. Cal State Northridge (May 19-22)
• 2017: Swept a 2-game series vs. Saint Louis (April 28-29)
• 2018: Split a 2-game series with Lipscomb (March 23)
STRIKEOUT TOTALS TO WATCH
• 2019 Team Total: 352
• Purdue Single-Season Record: 435 in 2010
• 2019 Strikeouts Per 9 Innings: 9.18
• Purdue's Single-Season for Ks Per 9: 7.76 in 2010
• Trent Johnson's Season & Career Totals: 52 in 34 innings; 91 in 75 innings
• Trent Johnson's Ks Per 9: 13.765 in 2019, 10.920 Career
• Purdue Ks Per 9 Season Records: Randy Minniear 11.65 (min. 30 IP); Chris Bloomer 10.48 (min. 60 IP)
• Purdue Ks Per 9 Career Records: Nick Wittgren 9.196 (min. 75 IP); Sherard Clinkscales 8.724 (min. 125 IP)
McKENZIE'S 8-GAME HIT & ON BASE MULTIPLE TIMES STREAK
• Cole McKenzie is not only riding a season-best eight-game hit streak, the junior has also reached base safely multiple times in all eight games of the streak. He's 14-for-30 with 7 RBI, 7 runs scored and a .528 on-base percentage during the streak, recording five multi-hit games. Include a two-double, three-RBI game at Indiana on April 10, and over the last 10 games he's batting a team-best .410 with 10 RBI.
• In consecutive games – April 21 at Rutgers and April 23 vs. Chicago State – McKenzie was credited with a dead ball base hit. In the series finale at Rutgers, his would-be single thru the right side hit base runner Bryce Bonner, costing McKenzie an RBI because the runner on third base was not allowed to score. In the midweek win vs. Chicago State, he hit the second base umpire with a hot shot over the mound.
• April 13 vs. Iowa (G1): Single, Walk
• April 13 vs. Iowa (G2): Home Run, Single
• April 16 vs. Butler: Single, Single, HBP
• April 19 at Rutgers: Single, Single, Single
• April 20 at Rutgers: Single, Walk
• April 21 at Rutgers: Single, Single
• April 23 vs. Chicago State: Single, Single
• April 24 vs. Purdue Fort Wayne: Walk, Double, Walk
NO WALKS ALLOWED
• Tuesday's win vs. Chicago State marked the third time this season that the Purdue pitching staff did not issue a walk, with all three games coming at home. The Boilermakers' streak of 18 consecutive innings without conceding a base on balls ended in the ninth inning Wednesday vs. Purdue Fort Wayne. It was the program's longest streak since 2012. Since 2005, here's a look at the seasons with the most no-walk games for the Purdue pitching staff.
• 2012: 7
• 2007: 6
• 2011, 2017: 5
• 2008, 2015: 4
• 2005, 2010, 2016, 2019: 3
FASTEST TO 200 CAREER HITS
• Skyler Hunter enters the weekend only nine hits shy of 200. He's in line to become the sixth Boilermaker to reach the milestone as a junior. Here's a look at how many games it took the other five to reach 200 hits.
| Boilermaker | Years | Games to Reach 200th | Hits by End of Junior Yr | Career Hits | Career Games |
| Daryl Hallada | 1997-00 | 137 | 225 | 279 | 211 |
| Cameron Perkins | 2010-12 | 141 | 241 | 241 | 171 |
| Mitch Hilligoss | 2004-06 | 144 | 229 | 229 | 163 |
| Ryne White | 2006-08 | 145 | 229 | 229 | 167 |
| Kevin Plawecki | 2010-12 | 150 | 222 | 222 | 168 |
| Skyler Hunter | 2017-Pr | TBD | TBD | 191 | 149 |
SKYLER'S CURRENT STREAKS
• 12-Game Hit Streak at Home: 19-for-45 (.422), 2 2B, 3 3B, 4 RBI, 9 R, 8 BB, .509 OBP
• 21-Game Reached Base Safely Streak Overall: 29-for-80 (.363), 6 2B, 5 3B, 8 RBI, 17 R, 13 BB, 3 HBP, .469 OBP
• 25-Game Reached Base Safely Streak at Home: 32-for-94 (.340), 7 2B, 3 3B, HR, 19 RBI, 20 R, 13 BB, .413 OBP