GAMEDAY INFORMATION
#24 Oregon (10-2) at Purdue (8-3)
March 6-8 / Stream B1G+
Series Opener: Friday, March 6 at 4 p.m. ET
Middle Game: Saturday, March 7 at 2 p.m. ET
Series Finale: Sunday, March 8 at Noon ET
Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Ind.
Series History: First Meetings
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday: No Fly Zone T-Shirt Giveaway (Early Arriving Fans)
Sunday: Bark in the Park Dog Day & Dog Toy Giveaway
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Cole Van Assen (Jr, RHP) vs. Oregon’s Will Sanford (So, RHP)
Saturday: Zach Erdman (Sr, LHP) vs. Oregon’s Collin Clarke (Jr, RHP)
Sunday: Jarvis Evans (Sr, LHP) vs. Oregon’s Cal Scolari (R-So, RHP)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Baseball’s earliest home opener ever coincides with the start of Big Ten Conference play as Oregon makes its first appearance at Alexander Field.
First pitch is slated for Friday at 4 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Saturday’s game time is the most likely to be impacted by the rain in the weekend forecast. With temperatures in the mid-70s Friday and the 60s Saturday and Sunday, the forecast is otherwise very favorable for the first full weekend of March.
The Boilermakers open their home schedule riding a six-game win streak, their longest going into a home opener since being 12-0 (on the way to 15-0) in 2022. This season will mark the fifth time since 2019 Purdue has reset the date for its earliest home opener ever.
Meanwhile, the Boilers have won eight straight Big Ten openers, the longest such streak in program history.
WIN STREAKS OF NOTE
• Purdue in All Games: 6 straight since Feb. 21
…Wins against Baylor, Oregon State, Marist (4x)
• Purdue in Big Ten Openers: 8 straight since 2017
…Wins against Iowa (2x), Penn State, Northwestern, Nebraska, Ohio State, Michigan State, Minnesota
• Purdue in Home Openers: 4 straight since 2022
…Wins against Bellarmine, Northern Illinois, UAlbany, Butler
ACTIVE STREAKS
• Eli Anderson: 11-game hit in Big Ten play
• Brandon Rogers: 6-game hit; 5-game on-base in Big Ten play
• Ali Banks: 6-game on-base
• Dylan Drake: 5-game on-base
• Sergio DeCello: 5-game on-base
Oregon is set to become the third team from the Pacific Time Zone to play at Alexander Field, joining Cal State Northridge (2016) and UCLA (2025). The Ducks are led by former Purdue head coach Mark Wasikowski, who was the leader of the Boilermakers for three seasons from 2017-19. He brought current Purdue head coach Greg Goff to campus in the summer of 2017 and Goff succeeded Wasikowski two years later. The two men first worked together as assistants at Southeast Missouri State in the late 90s, helping the Redhawks qualify for their first NCAA Division I Regional in 1998. Twenty years later, they led Purdue to an NCAA Regional after the 2018 team finished second in the Big Ten standings and was a finalist at the Big Ten Tournament.
Wasikowski spent five seasons as an assistant at Oregon from 2012-16 before being hired at Purdue in June 2016. Across all sports, he’s believed to be just the third Purdue head coach in at least the last 50 years to later coach against the Boilermakers again as a head coach. Nell Fortner (1996-97 at Purdue) brought her Georgia Tech women’s basketball team to Mackey Arena in December 2021 as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Kathie Wickstrand-McIntosh was the head coach of Purdue women’s swimming & diving during the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons before accepting the same job at Northwestern in the spring of 1987. Purdue and Northwestern regularly competed against each other for dual meets over the next decade while Wickstrand was at Northwestern.
Wasikowski’s longest-tenured assistant, Jack Marder, was also an assistant at Purdue in the fall of 2016.
In its inaugural Big Ten season, Oregon shared the Big Ten title with UCLA. The Boilermakers are opening conference play vs. the defending Big Ten champion for the first time since 2011 against Minnesota. That series in April 2011 was moved to Target Field after the roof of the Metrodome collapsed due to a blizzard over the winter.
OPENING WEEKEND OF BIG TEN PLAY
• Oregon at Purdue
• Michigan State at Nebraska
• UCLA at Ohio State
• Washington at Indiana
• Illinois at USC
• Maryland at Troy (Non-Conference)
• Penn State at Texas Tech (Non-Conference)
• Michigan at Pepperdine (Non-Conference)
• Bryant at Rutgers (Non-Conference)
• Lindenwood at Iowa (Non-Conference)
• Minnesota hosts Tournament Inside U.S. Bank Stadium
• Northwestern at Minnesota Tournament
EARLIEST HOME OPENERS IN PURDUE HISTORY
*Home-Opening Doubleheader
• 2024: March 9 vs UAlbany* – W, 11-3
• 2022: March 10 vs Bellarmine – W, 8-4
• 2025: March 12 vs Butler – W, 10-1
• 2019: March 12 vs Milwaukee – L, 6-1
• 1996: March 13 vs Saint Joseph's (Ind.) – L, 7-0
• 2023: March 15 vs Northern Illinois – W, 14-5
• 1992: March 16 vs Ball State* – W, 9-0
• 1991: March 16 vs Saint Joseph's (Ind.)* – L, 2-1
• 1994: March 17 vs Saint Joseph's (Ind.) – W, 3-0
• 1990: March 17 vs Saint Joseph's (Ind.) – L, 5-3
• 2015: March 18 vs Valparaiso – W, 2-0 (Year 3 at Alexander Field)
• 1998: March 18 vs Valparaiso – W, 5-4
• 1993: March 18 vs Saint Joseph's (Ind.) – W, 8-0
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BIG TEN OPENER WAS ALSO HOME OPENER |
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|
Year |
Date |
Game Number |
Big Ten Opponent |
Result |
|
2026 |
March 6 |
12 |
Oregon |
TBD |
|
2021 |
March 26 |
12 |
Rutgers |
L, 7-5 |
|
2013 |
March 22 |
19 |
Ohio State |
L, 10-1 |
|
2007 |
March 30 |
19 |
Illinois |
L, 14-13 |
|
2001 |
March 23 |
18 |
Minnesota |
L, 6-4 |
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WINS WHEN TRAILING BY 4+ RUNS IN 9TH INNING (Since 2001) |
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|
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
Score Entering Purdue Half of 9th |
Final Score |
|
2/28/2026 |
Marist^ |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
10-6 |
11-10 |
|
3/06/2022 |
Longwood^ |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
5-1 |
6-5 (11 Innings) |
|
3/27/2021 |
Rutgers^ |
Alexander Field |
4-0 |
7-4 |
|
2/25/2018 |
Notre Dame |
San Antonio, Texas |
7-3 |
8-7 |
|
5/06/2012 |
UCLA |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
10-5 |
15-11 |
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^ – Walk-off Win |
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WALK-OFF WINS UNDER GREG GOFF (Since 2020) |
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|
Date |
Opponent |
Location |
Score (Innings) |
GW RBI |
GW Run |
|
2/28/2026 |
Marist |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
11-10 (9) |
NA (Wild Pitch) |
|
|
2/21/2026 |
Baylor |
Round Rock, Texas |
6-5 (9) |
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2/14/2026 |
Portland |
Sugar Land, Texas |
2-1 (9) |
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5/16/2025 |
Nebraska |
Alexander Field |
5-4 (9) |
Brandon Anderson (HR) |
|
|
4/14/2025 |
Arizona State |
Alexander Field |
8-6 (9) |
CJ Richmond (HR) |
|
|
3/16/2024 |
Samford |
Alexander Field |
13-12 (10) |
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5/07/2023 |
South Dakota St. |
Alexander Field |
3-2 (9) |
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4/02/2023 |
Northwestern |
Alexander Field |
4-3 (10) |
Lukas Cook (HR) |
|
|
2/24/2023 |
NJIT |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
6-5 (9) |
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4/26/2022 |
Valparaiso |
Alexander Field |
6-5 (10) |
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3/20/2022 |
Illinois State |
Alexander Field |
7-6 (10) |
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|
3/06/2022 |
Longwood |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
6-5 (11) |
Cam Thompson (HR) |
|
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3/05/2022 |
Longwood |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
6-5 (13) |
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2/26/2022 |
Princeton (G2) |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
5-4 (9) |
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2/26/2022 |
Princeton (G1) |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
4-3 (9) |
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3/27/2021 |
Rutgers |
Alexander Field |
7-4 (9) |
Mason Gavre (HR) |
|
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4/18/2021 |
Michigan State |
Champaign, Ill. |
2-1 (11) |
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3/05/2021 |
Nebraska |
Round Rock, Texas |
6-5 (9) |
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PURDUE WINS VS. COLLEGE WORLD SERIES TEAMS FROM PREVIOUS SEASON |
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|
Date |
Opponent |
Site of Game |
Final Score |
|
2/22/2026 |
vs Oregon State |
Round Rock, Texas |
5-2 |
|
2/23/2019 |
at Texas |
Austin, Texas |
4-0 |
|
2/24/2007 |
at Georgia |
Athens, Ga. |
5-0 |
|
3/03/2000 |
at Alabama |
Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
10-9 |
|
3/11/1993 |
vs Florida State |
Daytona Beach, Fla. |
11-1 |
|
5/13/1984 |
Michigan |
West Lafayette, Ind. |
11-7 |
|
4/18/1982 |
Michigan |
West Lafayette, Ind. |
2-1 |
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5/03/1981 |
at Michigan |
Ann Arbor, Mich. |
3-1 |
|
4/27/1963 |
Michigan |
West Lafayette, Ind. |
6-3 |
|
5/03/1952 |
at Ohio State |
Columbus, Ohio |
8-1 |
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RALLIED TO WIN THE WEEKEND AFTER LOSING THE OPENER UNDER GREG GOFF (Since 2020) |
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|
Month & Year |
Opponent(s) / Tournament |
Site of Games |
Final Scores |
|
February 2026 |
Round Rock Classic |
Round Rock, Texas |
L, 5-4 vs Southern Miss |
|
February 2026 |
vs Portland |
Sugar Land, Texas |
L, 9-3 |
|
May 2025 |
Northwestern |
Alexander Field |
L, 8-6 |
|
March 2024 |
Keith LeClair Classic |
Greenville, N.C. |
L, 7-1 at East Carolina |
|
April 2023 |
Penn State |
Alexander Field |
L, 15-3 |
|
March 2023 |
vs Akron |
Holly Springs, N.C. |
L, 2-1 |
|
March 2022 |
at/vs Illinois State |
Normal, Ill. |
L, 4-3 [11] at ISU |
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TRUE FRESHMEN TO START A SEASON OPENER (Since 2001) |
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|
Season |
Boilermaker |
Position |
Opponent |
4-Year Starter? |
|
2026 |
SS |
vs Portland |
TBD |
|
|
2018 |
RF |
vs Western Michigan |
Yes |
|
|
2016 |
3B |
at Georgia Tech |
No – Drafted after Junior Year |
|
|
2016 |
LF |
at Georgia Tech |
No – Drafted after Junior Year |
|
|
2015 |
SS |
at Western Carolina |
Yes |
|
|
2013 |
C |
vs Connecticut |
Yes |
|
|
2013 |
RF |
vs Connecticut |
Yes |
|
|
2013 |
DH |
vs Connecticut |
No |
|
|
2010 |
1B |
vs Villanova |
No – Drafted after Junior Year |
|
|
2010 |
C |
vs Villanova |
No – Drafted after Junior Year |
|
|
2009 |
DH |
vs Cincinnati |
Yes |
|
|
2004 |
2B |
at Belmont |
Yes |
|
|
2003 |
1B |
vs Pitt |
Yes |
|
|
2001 |
Mitch Koester |
3B |
at Rice |
No |