GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Rutgers (6-5) at Purdue (2-9)
Friday to Sunday, March 26 to 28 / BTN+
Series Opener: Friday March 26 at 4 p.m.
Middle Game: Saturday, March 27 at 2 p.m.
Series Finale: Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m.
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (Sr, RHP) vs. RU's Harry Rutkowski (R-Jr, LHP)
Saturday: Calvin Schapira (Jr, LHP) vs. RU's Ben Wereski (Grad, LHP)
Sunday: Jett Jackson (So, RHP) vs. RU's Brent Teller (Grad, RHP)
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: Tied 7-7
As Big Ten Rivals: Tied 6-6
All-Time in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 4-2
Last Series: Rutgers won 2 of 3 (April 2019 in Piscataway)
Last Series in West Lafayette: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2018)
First Meeting: Purdue 15, Rutgers 9 (March 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The long-awaited return to action at Alexander Field brings a streak of 678 consecutive days without a regular-season home game to an end as Purdue baseball hosts Rutgers this weekend.
First pitch is set for 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Purdue Athletics has been granted an opportunity to issue 500 tickets for each home game. Those became available at 10 a.m. Thursday and were quickly scooped up.
While it's been a long time since the Boilermakers' last regular-season home game on May 18, 2019, the limited capacity allotment announced this week does assure that Purdue baseball and Purdue softball will not to have to play home games in front of minimal crowds comprised entirely of family members. That was the case for many of their comrades within Purdue Athletics as well as Big Ten rivals that opened their home schedules prior to this weekend. Conversely, the spring sports did endure the full shutdown and cancellation of the remainder of their seasons on March 12 a year ago.
Of the 40 players on Purdue's roster this season, only 11 have played in a regular-season game at Alexander Field. That's a total that includes Justin Walker Jr., who played there with Indiana in 2018.
Second-year head coach Greg Goff will also be filling out the lineup card for a regular-season game at Alexander Field for the first time. He coached first base for 43 games at Alexander as an assistant from 2018 to 2019. After Thursday's practice this week, Goff was recognized with a plaque commemorating his first win as Purdue head coach. It was originally scheduled to be presented before last season's March 17 home opener.
Rutgers is also led by a second-year head coach in Steve Owens. He has the Scarlet Knights playing well early this season, highlighted by an Opening Day win vs. Indiana (in Minneapolis) and a series win vs. Ohio State this past weekend. Owens coached against Purdue as recently as March 2010 when he was the head man at Le Moyne (Syracuse, N.Y.), then an NCAA Division I independent. Following the 2010 season, Owens made the move to Bryant (Smithfield, R.I.) and led the Bulldogs to 192 wins and eight consecutive Northeast Conference titles in his nine seasons.
Led by a Big Ten-high eight long balls from third baseman Chris Brito, the Scarlet Knights have already hit 20 home runs in 11 games this year. They had 10 in 15 games in last year's abbreviated campaign. However, there were only 21 home runs hit in 23 games at Alexander Field in 2019, 10 of those coming in the final series of the season (May 16-18) when the weather finally aided the hitters.
Purdue's Trent Johnson and Rutgers' Harry Rutkowski are both slated to make their third career starts against the opponent Friday. Johnson has struck out 14 over 11 shutout innings of four-hit ball in his career against the Scarlet Knights. The Boilermakers beat Rutkowski at Alexander in April 2018 but the lefty returned the favor the following season in New Jersey, striking out 12 over eight shutout innings. Rutgers' Saturday and Sunday starters – Ben Wereski (Columbia) and Brent Teller (Sacred Heart) – are both graduate transfers from fellow Northeast-based universities.
Purdue has endured some offensive struggles early this season against the toughest schedule in the Big Ten over the first three weekends. However, the Boilermakers scored 13 runs last weekend in Bloomington after Hoosiers had given up only 15 runs in their first eight games. Purdue held the lead at the end of 14 innings over the course of the series after leading for only four innings over the first eight games.
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Ben Nisle has accounted for eight of Purdue's first 18 extra-base hits this season. In doing so, he became just the sixth Boilermaker since 2001 with eight over the first 11 games. Nisle stole home against Rutgers, with Harry Rutkowski on the mound, in the first inning of Purdue's game 2 win in the 2018 series sweep at Alexander.
• Meanwhile, Skyler Hunter enters the weekend leading the Big Ten with 12 walks. He's only third Boilermaker since 2001 to draw a dozen walks over the first 11 games. He's also the most unexpected to accomplish the feat. Through the end of the 2019 season, the switch-hitter had 204 hits vs. 44 walks in 713 career plate appearances.
MOST WALKS OVER FIRST 11 GAMES
• Dan Black – 17 in 2009
• Skyler Hunter – 12 in 2021
• Kris Luce – 12 in 2002
• Tyler Spillner – 10 in 2011
• Cody Strong – 9 in 2016
• Brett Carlson – 9 in 2015
• Tyler Spillner – 9 in 2012
• Tyler Spillner – 9 in 2010
• Jordan Comadena – 9 in 2008
• Jordan Comadena – 9 in 2007
Rutgers (6-5) at Purdue (2-9)
Friday to Sunday, March 26 to 28 / BTN+
Series Opener: Friday March 26 at 4 p.m.
Middle Game: Saturday, March 27 at 2 p.m.
Series Finale: Sunday, March 28 at 1 p.m.
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Trent Johnson (Sr, RHP) vs. RU's Harry Rutkowski (R-Jr, LHP)
Saturday: Calvin Schapira (Jr, LHP) vs. RU's Ben Wereski (Grad, LHP)
Sunday: Jett Jackson (So, RHP) vs. RU's Brent Teller (Grad, RHP)
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: Tied 7-7
As Big Ten Rivals: Tied 6-6
All-Time in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 4-2
Last Series: Rutgers won 2 of 3 (April 2019 in Piscataway)
Last Series in West Lafayette: Purdue swept a 3-game set (April 2018)
First Meeting: Purdue 15, Rutgers 9 (March 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The long-awaited return to action at Alexander Field brings a streak of 678 consecutive days without a regular-season home game to an end as Purdue baseball hosts Rutgers this weekend.
First pitch is set for 4 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Purdue Athletics has been granted an opportunity to issue 500 tickets for each home game. Those became available at 10 a.m. Thursday and were quickly scooped up.
While it's been a long time since the Boilermakers' last regular-season home game on May 18, 2019, the limited capacity allotment announced this week does assure that Purdue baseball and Purdue softball will not to have to play home games in front of minimal crowds comprised entirely of family members. That was the case for many of their comrades within Purdue Athletics as well as Big Ten rivals that opened their home schedules prior to this weekend. Conversely, the spring sports did endure the full shutdown and cancellation of the remainder of their seasons on March 12 a year ago.
Of the 40 players on Purdue's roster this season, only 11 have played in a regular-season game at Alexander Field. That's a total that includes Justin Walker Jr., who played there with Indiana in 2018.
| HAS PLAYED A REGULAR-SEASON GAME AT ALEXANDER (Career Games at Alexander) |
||
| Evan Albrecht (23) Cory Brooks (5) Zac Fascia (23) Ryan Howe (22) |
Skyler Hunter (63) James Kulak (9) Trent Johnson (11) Ben Nisle (23) |
Tyler Powers (38) Kyle Wade (9) Justin Walker Jr. (1) |
Second-year head coach Greg Goff will also be filling out the lineup card for a regular-season game at Alexander Field for the first time. He coached first base for 43 games at Alexander as an assistant from 2018 to 2019. After Thursday's practice this week, Goff was recognized with a plaque commemorating his first win as Purdue head coach. It was originally scheduled to be presented before last season's March 17 home opener.
Rutgers is also led by a second-year head coach in Steve Owens. He has the Scarlet Knights playing well early this season, highlighted by an Opening Day win vs. Indiana (in Minneapolis) and a series win vs. Ohio State this past weekend. Owens coached against Purdue as recently as March 2010 when he was the head man at Le Moyne (Syracuse, N.Y.), then an NCAA Division I independent. Following the 2010 season, Owens made the move to Bryant (Smithfield, R.I.) and led the Bulldogs to 192 wins and eight consecutive Northeast Conference titles in his nine seasons.
| LATEST HOME OPENERS (SINCE 1990) | |||
| Year | Date | Opponent | Result |
| 2007 | March 30 | Illinois | L, 14-13 |
| 2017 | March 28 | Kent State | W, 3-2 |
| 2012 | March 27 | Louisville | W, 2-1 (10) |
| 2014 | March 26 | Purdue Fort Wayne | W, 7-1 |
| 2005 | March 26 | Western Michigan | W, 9-5 |
Led by a Big Ten-high eight long balls from third baseman Chris Brito, the Scarlet Knights have already hit 20 home runs in 11 games this year. They had 10 in 15 games in last year's abbreviated campaign. However, there were only 21 home runs hit in 23 games at Alexander Field in 2019, 10 of those coming in the final series of the season (May 16-18) when the weather finally aided the hitters.
Purdue's Trent Johnson and Rutgers' Harry Rutkowski are both slated to make their third career starts against the opponent Friday. Johnson has struck out 14 over 11 shutout innings of four-hit ball in his career against the Scarlet Knights. The Boilermakers beat Rutkowski at Alexander in April 2018 but the lefty returned the favor the following season in New Jersey, striking out 12 over eight shutout innings. Rutgers' Saturday and Sunday starters – Ben Wereski (Columbia) and Brent Teller (Sacred Heart) – are both graduate transfers from fellow Northeast-based universities.
Purdue has endured some offensive struggles early this season against the toughest schedule in the Big Ten over the first three weekends. However, the Boilermakers scored 13 runs last weekend in Bloomington after Hoosiers had given up only 15 runs in their first eight games. Purdue held the lead at the end of 14 innings over the course of the series after leading for only four innings over the first eight games.
PURDUE NOTABLES
• Ben Nisle has accounted for eight of Purdue's first 18 extra-base hits this season. In doing so, he became just the sixth Boilermaker since 2001 with eight over the first 11 games. Nisle stole home against Rutgers, with Harry Rutkowski on the mound, in the first inning of Purdue's game 2 win in the 2018 series sweep at Alexander.
• Meanwhile, Skyler Hunter enters the weekend leading the Big Ten with 12 walks. He's only third Boilermaker since 2001 to draw a dozen walks over the first 11 games. He's also the most unexpected to accomplish the feat. Through the end of the 2019 season, the switch-hitter had 204 hits vs. 44 walks in 713 career plate appearances.
| MOST EXTRA-BASE HITS OVER FIRST 11 GAMES (SINCE 2001) | |||||
| Player | Season | Doubles | Triples | Home Runs | XBH |
| Jordan Comadena | 2007 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| Jacson McGowan | 2018 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| Ben Nisle | 2021 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Angelo Cianfrocco* | 2011 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| Mike Coles | 2004 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| Nate Sickler | 2001 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Jacson McGowan | 2017 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Cameron Perkins | 2011 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Payton Bieker* | 2010 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| Ryne White | 2007 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| *Accomplished the feat in his first 11 games of the season | |||||
MOST WALKS OVER FIRST 11 GAMES
• Dan Black – 17 in 2009
• Skyler Hunter – 12 in 2021
• Kris Luce – 12 in 2002
• Tyler Spillner – 10 in 2011
• Cody Strong – 9 in 2016
• Brett Carlson – 9 in 2015
• Tyler Spillner – 9 in 2012
• Tyler Spillner – 9 in 2010
• Jordan Comadena – 9 in 2008
• Jordan Comadena – 9 in 2007
| MOST DOUBLE-FIGURE STRIKEOUT EFFORTS IN FIRST 11 GAMES (SINCE 2001) | ||||
| Season | 10+ in First 11 Games | First 11 K Total | 10+ for Season | Season K Total |
| 2021 | 5 | 108 | TBD | TBD |
| 2011 | 5 | 84 | 13 | 419 |
| 2007 | 4 | 90 | 9 | 345 |
| 2019 | 4 | 87 | 20 | 477 |
| 2010 | 4 | 84 | 15 | 435 |
| 2020 | 3 | 84 | 3 | 98 (14 Games) |
| 2003 | 3 | 71 | 8 | 307 |
| 2009 | 2 | 75 | 9 | 341 |
| 2006 | 2 | 75 | 7 | 372 |
| 2015 | 2 | 73 | 7 | 313 |