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GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (19-28, 7-10 B1G) at No. 25 Illinois (31-16, 10-8 B1G)
Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12 at 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET / Sunday on BTN
Illinois Field / Champaign, Illinois
All-Time Series: Illinois leads 159-85-1 / All-Time in Champaign: Illinois leads 92-39
Last Meeting: Purdue 11, Illinois 5 (2018 Big Ten Tournament Semifinal in Omaha)
Last Series: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2017 in West Lafayette)
Last Series in Champaign: Illinois swept a 3-game set (April 2015)
Purdue's Last Series Win in Champaign: Purdue won 2 of 3 (May 2010)
First Meeting: Illinois 14, Purdue 4 (1893 in West Lafayette)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (So, RHP) vs. ILL's Andy Fisher (R-Sr, LHP)
Saturday: TBA for Purdue vs. ILL's Ty Weber (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: TBA for Purdue vs. ILL's Cyrillo Watson (Jr, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's final road trip of the regular season doubles as the team's shortest trek of the year as the Boilermakers visit Champaign-Urbana for the first time since 2015 for a three-game series at No. 25 Illinois.
First pitch at Illinois Field is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The special late afternoon start on Mother's Day is for live television coverage by the Big Ten Network. Purdue's non-conference finale Tuesday vs. Xavier will also be live on BTN.
The Boilermakers visited Champaign-Urbana for three straight seasons from 2013 to 2015. In the years since, they've played 35 Big Ten weekend series without a return trip to Illinois Field. Entering this season, Purdue had also not played at Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska since 2015. Trips to Ann Arbor and East Lansing are on the schedule for 2020.
The Fighting Illini have won each of their last four series after beginning Big Ten play with a surprising 1-5 record. During that stretch, they've won nine of 12 against Minnesota, Penn State, Nebraska and Indiana. That strong showing coupled with a 17-4 start to the season has put Illinois in prime position to earn an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional even if it doesn't finish among the top four in the final standings or win the Big Ten Tournament.
Four of the last five Purdue-Illinois series dating back to 2012 have ended in sweeps for the home team. The Boilermakers posted their first-ever Big Ten sweep at Alexander Field in April 2017 when the Illini became the final league rival to play at the ballpark, which opened in 2013. Purdue was also victorious in last year's only meeting, in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. The Boilermakers' four-game win streak in the series is their longest since sweeping a four-game set in West Lafayette in April 2000.
Dalton Parker's hometown of St. Joseph, Illinois, is only 12 miles east of Illinois Field. Parker headlines Purdue's four Illinois natives, with Ryan Howe (Mount Prospect), James Kulak (Naperville) and Patrick J. Smith (Schaumburg) each hailing from the Chicagoland area. All four Boilermakers are likely to see action this weekend. Parker has worked 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his two career appearances vs. the Fighting Illini, closing out the 2017 series-opening win at Alexander Field and last year's Big Ten Tournament win.
Purdue needs to avoid a sweep this weekend to remain a factor in the Big Ten Tournament chase. The Boilermakers could have climbed into seventh place and provided themselves some margin for error over the final two weekends with a strong showing at home against 12th-place Michigan State last weekend. Instead, they dropped the series after winning the opener in 2-0 fashion.
Maryland and Ohio State both getting swept coupled with Rutgers only winning one game in a weather-shortened series at last-place Penn State minimized the damage of Purdue's series loss to MSU a bit. But the Boilermakers will still likely need 11 conference wins to have a chance at qualifying for the eight-team field. Unfortunately, Northwestern (8-10) visits Rutgers (8-9) this weekend, assuring that one of those teams will have 10 Big Ten wins going into the final week of the regular season.
BIG TEN WEEKEND SERIES // MAY 10-12
• Purdue (7-10) at Illinois (10-8)
• Indiana (12-6) at Michigan (14-3)
• Northwestern (8-10) at Rutgers (8-9)
• Maryland (8-10) at Minnesota (11-7)
• Penn State (3-16) at Ohio State (7-11)
• Michigan State (5-12) at Iowa (11-7)
• Non-Conference: Arizona State at Nebraska (13-8)
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Cole McKenzie is batting .462 (24-for-52) with a .554 on-base percentage during his 15-game reached base safely streak. He has posted a pair of 15-game reached safely streaks this season, with his season-long 18-game run ending the final weekend of March.
• Tyler Powers is batting .310 with a .408 on-base percentage over the last four weeks, igniting the hot stretch with a three-hit game in the April 13 win vs. Iowa. He has started games at third base (7), shortstop (6) and second base (1) during that stretch.
• Trent Johnson has worked 14 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in Big Ten play dating back to April 7 at Nebraska, pitching at least six scoreless innings in his starts at Rutgers and vs. Michigan State. He enters the weekend leading the Big Ten with a 0.39 ERA and .141 batting average against in conference play.
• The Boilermakers have racked up 416 strikeouts on the mound this season, posting just their fourth 400-strikeout campaign in program history. The single-season team record for strikeouts is 435 in 2010.
• Zac Fascia is batting .366 with a team-high 14 RBI during his current 11-game hit streak.
• Bryce Bonner has a team-high seven extra-base hits, 13 RBI, a .365 on-base percentage and more walks (9) than strikeouts (8) since becoming a full-time starter April 7.
• Skyler Hunter has hit safely in all four of his career games against Illinois (5-for-16, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R). In last year's Big Ten Tournament win, his RBI double plated the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Purdue blew the game open with a four-run rally. He also made a highlight-reel diving catch in left center for the final out of the bottom half of the frame.
• Hunter continues to lead the Big Ten with six triples.
• Matt Moore and Bo Hofstra have combined to strand 23 of 26 inherited base runners this season. They have both pitched in a team-high 11 victories.
• Purdue was the only team to successfully keep Illinois shortstop Ben Troike off base last season. Troike's 57-game reached base safely streak ended in Purdue's victory at the Big Ten Tournament.
FASTEST TO 200 CAREER HITS
• Skyler Hunter enters the weekend only one hit shy of 200 for his career. 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.
HUNTER'S CAREER SWITCH-HITTING TOTALS
• 199 Career Hits – Left Handed: 134, Right Handed: 65
• .329 Career Batting Average – Left Handed: .321 (134-for-417), Right Handed: .348 (65-for-187)
HUNTER'S HITS FROM BOTH SIDE OF PLATE IN SAME GAME (20 TIMES)
• May 7, 2019 – Ball State: 3-for-5, 3 RBI, R (1-for-2 RH, 2-for-3 LH)
• April 26, 2019 – Southeast Missouri: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• April 12 – Iowa: 2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, R (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• April 6, 2019 at Nebraska: 2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, HBP, R (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• March 24, 2019 at Northwestern: 3-for-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R (2-for-4 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• March 20, 2019 – Bowling Green: 2-for-4 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• March 17, 2019 at Jacksonville State: 3-for-4 (2-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 27, 2018 vs Minnesota: 3-for-4 (2-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 23, 2018 vs Ohio State: 3-for-5 (2-for-3 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• April 7, 2018 at Indiana: 2-for-4 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• March 3, 2018 vs Virginia Tech: 2-for-3 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• Feb. 25, 2018 vs Notre Dame: 2-for-5 (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• Feb. 18, 2018 vs Western Michigan: 4-for-4 (3-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• Feb. 17, 2018 vs Western Michigan: 2-for-3 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 19, 2017 at Minnesota: 3-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 2-for-4 LH)
• May 14, 2017 – Michigan: 3-for-4 (2-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• May 6, 2017 – Northwestern: 2-for-5 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• April 25, 2017 – Purdue Fort Wayne: 2-for-4 (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• April 15, 2017 at Rutgers: 2-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• Feb. 17, 2017 at Texas State: 2-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-4 LH)
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Purdue (19-28, 7-10 B1G) at No. 25 Illinois (31-16, 10-8 B1G)
Friday, May 10 to Sunday, May 12 at 7 p.m., 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET / Sunday on BTN
Illinois Field / Champaign, Illinois
All-Time Series: Illinois leads 159-85-1 / All-Time in Champaign: Illinois leads 92-39
Last Meeting: Purdue 11, Illinois 5 (2018 Big Ten Tournament Semifinal in Omaha)
Last Series: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2017 in West Lafayette)
Last Series in Champaign: Illinois swept a 3-game set (April 2015)
Purdue's Last Series Win in Champaign: Purdue won 2 of 3 (May 2010)
First Meeting: Illinois 14, Purdue 4 (1893 in West Lafayette)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (So, RHP) vs. ILL's Andy Fisher (R-Sr, LHP)
Saturday: TBA for Purdue vs. ILL's Ty Weber (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: TBA for Purdue vs. ILL's Cyrillo Watson (Jr, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball's final road trip of the regular season doubles as the team's shortest trek of the year as the Boilermakers visit Champaign-Urbana for the first time since 2015 for a three-game series at No. 25 Illinois.
First pitch at Illinois Field is slated for 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday (all times ET). The special late afternoon start on Mother's Day is for live television coverage by the Big Ten Network. Purdue's non-conference finale Tuesday vs. Xavier will also be live on BTN.
The Boilermakers visited Champaign-Urbana for three straight seasons from 2013 to 2015. In the years since, they've played 35 Big Ten weekend series without a return trip to Illinois Field. Entering this season, Purdue had also not played at Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska since 2015. Trips to Ann Arbor and East Lansing are on the schedule for 2020.
The Fighting Illini have won each of their last four series after beginning Big Ten play with a surprising 1-5 record. During that stretch, they've won nine of 12 against Minnesota, Penn State, Nebraska and Indiana. That strong showing coupled with a 17-4 start to the season has put Illinois in prime position to earn an at-large bid to an NCAA Regional even if it doesn't finish among the top four in the final standings or win the Big Ten Tournament.
Four of the last five Purdue-Illinois series dating back to 2012 have ended in sweeps for the home team. The Boilermakers posted their first-ever Big Ten sweep at Alexander Field in April 2017 when the Illini became the final league rival to play at the ballpark, which opened in 2013. Purdue was also victorious in last year's only meeting, in the semifinal round of the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha. The Boilermakers' four-game win streak in the series is their longest since sweeping a four-game set in West Lafayette in April 2000.
Dalton Parker's hometown of St. Joseph, Illinois, is only 12 miles east of Illinois Field. Parker headlines Purdue's four Illinois natives, with Ryan Howe (Mount Prospect), James Kulak (Naperville) and Patrick J. Smith (Schaumburg) each hailing from the Chicagoland area. All four Boilermakers are likely to see action this weekend. Parker has worked 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his two career appearances vs. the Fighting Illini, closing out the 2017 series-opening win at Alexander Field and last year's Big Ten Tournament win.
Purdue needs to avoid a sweep this weekend to remain a factor in the Big Ten Tournament chase. The Boilermakers could have climbed into seventh place and provided themselves some margin for error over the final two weekends with a strong showing at home against 12th-place Michigan State last weekend. Instead, they dropped the series after winning the opener in 2-0 fashion.
Maryland and Ohio State both getting swept coupled with Rutgers only winning one game in a weather-shortened series at last-place Penn State minimized the damage of Purdue's series loss to MSU a bit. But the Boilermakers will still likely need 11 conference wins to have a chance at qualifying for the eight-team field. Unfortunately, Northwestern (8-10) visits Rutgers (8-9) this weekend, assuring that one of those teams will have 10 Big Ten wins going into the final week of the regular season.
BIG TEN WEEKEND SERIES // MAY 10-12
• Purdue (7-10) at Illinois (10-8)
• Indiana (12-6) at Michigan (14-3)
• Northwestern (8-10) at Rutgers (8-9)
• Maryland (8-10) at Minnesota (11-7)
• Penn State (3-16) at Ohio State (7-11)
• Michigan State (5-12) at Iowa (11-7)
• Non-Conference: Arizona State at Nebraska (13-8)
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Cole McKenzie is batting .462 (24-for-52) with a .554 on-base percentage during his 15-game reached base safely streak. He has posted a pair of 15-game reached safely streaks this season, with his season-long 18-game run ending the final weekend of March.
• Tyler Powers is batting .310 with a .408 on-base percentage over the last four weeks, igniting the hot stretch with a three-hit game in the April 13 win vs. Iowa. He has started games at third base (7), shortstop (6) and second base (1) during that stretch.
• Trent Johnson has worked 14 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in Big Ten play dating back to April 7 at Nebraska, pitching at least six scoreless innings in his starts at Rutgers and vs. Michigan State. He enters the weekend leading the Big Ten with a 0.39 ERA and .141 batting average against in conference play.
• The Boilermakers have racked up 416 strikeouts on the mound this season, posting just their fourth 400-strikeout campaign in program history. The single-season team record for strikeouts is 435 in 2010.
• Zac Fascia is batting .366 with a team-high 14 RBI during his current 11-game hit streak.
• Bryce Bonner has a team-high seven extra-base hits, 13 RBI, a .365 on-base percentage and more walks (9) than strikeouts (8) since becoming a full-time starter April 7.
• Skyler Hunter has hit safely in all four of his career games against Illinois (5-for-16, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 R). In last year's Big Ten Tournament win, his RBI double plated the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Purdue blew the game open with a four-run rally. He also made a highlight-reel diving catch in left center for the final out of the bottom half of the frame.
• Hunter continues to lead the Big Ten with six triples.
• Matt Moore and Bo Hofstra have combined to strand 23 of 26 inherited base runners this season. They have both pitched in a team-high 11 victories.
• Purdue was the only team to successfully keep Illinois shortstop Ben Troike off base last season. Troike's 57-game reached base safely streak ended in Purdue's victory at the Big Ten Tournament.
FASTEST TO 200 CAREER HITS
• Skyler Hunter enters the weekend only one hit shy of 200 for his career. 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 | Total by End of Junior Year | 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 | 199 | 156 |
HUNTER'S CAREER SWITCH-HITTING TOTALS
• 199 Career Hits – Left Handed: 134, Right Handed: 65
• .329 Career Batting Average – Left Handed: .321 (134-for-417), Right Handed: .348 (65-for-187)
HUNTER'S HITS FROM BOTH SIDE OF PLATE IN SAME GAME (20 TIMES)
• May 7, 2019 – Ball State: 3-for-5, 3 RBI, R (1-for-2 RH, 2-for-3 LH)
• April 26, 2019 – Southeast Missouri: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• April 12 – Iowa: 2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, R (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• April 6, 2019 at Nebraska: 2-for-4, 3B, 2 RBI, HBP, R (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• March 24, 2019 at Northwestern: 3-for-6, 2 2B, 2 RBI, R (2-for-4 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• March 20, 2019 – Bowling Green: 2-for-4 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• March 17, 2019 at Jacksonville State: 3-for-4 (2-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 27, 2018 vs Minnesota: 3-for-4 (2-for-2 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 23, 2018 vs Ohio State: 3-for-5 (2-for-3 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• April 7, 2018 at Indiana: 2-for-4 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• March 3, 2018 vs Virginia Tech: 2-for-3 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• Feb. 25, 2018 vs Notre Dame: 2-for-5 (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• Feb. 18, 2018 vs Western Michigan: 4-for-4 (3-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• Feb. 17, 2018 vs Western Michigan: 2-for-3 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-2 LH)
• May 19, 2017 at Minnesota: 3-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 2-for-4 LH)
• May 14, 2017 – Michigan: 3-for-4 (2-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• May 6, 2017 – Northwestern: 2-for-5 (1-for-2 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• April 25, 2017 – Purdue Fort Wayne: 2-for-4 (1-for-3 RH, 1-for-1 LH)
• April 15, 2017 at Rutgers: 2-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-3 LH)
• Feb. 17, 2017 at Texas State: 2-for-5 (1-for-1 RH, 1-for-4 LH)
SKYLER HUNTER!! Catch of the Tournament!! Amazing #BTNstandout catch in left center to end the 7th. #BoilerUp #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/xOGxmwQhst
— Purdue Baseball (@PurdueBaseball) May 26, 2018