Baseball Gameday: at Purdue

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A two-hour trek north will take the Indiana baseball program to West Lafayette, Indiana, for a three-game Big Ten series with Purdue at Alexander Field. Weather forced a change in the schedule, as the two teams will now meet Saturday-Monday (April 9-11).

The Hoosiers (11-16, 1-2 B1G) are coming off of a midweek loss at Evansville, which followed a 1-2 weekend against Northwestern to open conference play. The Boilermakers (19-6, 1-3 B1G) split a pair of midweek games after being swept at Illinois last weekend.

Gameday Info

Saturday, April 9 (3 p.m.)
Probable Starters
IU: Jack Perkins, RHP, R-Jr.
PU: Jackson Smeltz, LHP, R-Jr.

Live Video: bit.ly/3DXflKw
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Saturday, April 10 (1 p.m.)
Probable Starters
IU: Bradley Brehmer, RHP, Sr.
PU: Troy Wansing, LHP, Fr.

Live Video: bit.ly/3KpLIno
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Monday, April 11 (4 p.m.)
Probable Starters
IU: TBA
PU: TBA

Live Video: bit.ly/3KqX8ay
Live Audio: bit.ly/IUAudio
Live Stats: bit.ly/IUStatbroadcast

Quick Hitters

The two programs have 285 games played since the first meeting in 1895 and Indiana holds the all-time edge over Purdue, 151-134-2.
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Redshirt-junior Matt Ellis has been seeing the ball well and leads the Big Ten lead in home runs. The left-handed hitter has also hit some mammoth home runs so far in 2022.
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Rookie Josh Pyne had a 15-game hitting streak come to an end versus Northwestern. That stretch is the longest since 2014 and ninth longest since 2005.
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Redshirt-junior Jack Perkins is off to a solid start to the 2022 season on the mound in his first season in the cream and crimson.
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Head coach Jeff Mercer owns 83 victories as the Indiana frontman and is poised to become the eighth IU skipper to reach 100 victories in the cream and crimson.
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A handful of Hoosiers find themselves among the national leaders and are leading the Big Ten in various categories entering the seventh weekend of the season.
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Freshman Brock Tibbitts took a pair of pitches out of the park in the IU's season opener versus Miami (Ohio), but you don't have to look far in the record books for the last rookie to hit multiple home runs in a game.
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Graduate student Tyler Doanes has been a table setter for IU and ranks among the national leaders in walks through seven weeks of the season.
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Indiana has three alums on MLB rosters to start 2022 and saw a school-standard four student-athletes selected in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2021.
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Scouting the Opponent

Purdue is 19-6 overall after a 1-1 showing in the midweek with a win over Northern Illinois and a loss to Indiana State.
In Big Ten play, Purdue is 1-3 with two games against Ohio State postponed due to weather the first weekend of conference play.
Cam Thompson leads the Boilermakers in extra base hits (18), home runs (9), runs batted in (39), and slugging percentage (.756).
Evan Albrecht owns a team best .412 batting average and has a team high 35 hits.
Purdue leads the Big Ten and is No. 4 in college baseball in stolen bases per game (2.48).
On the mound, the Boilermakers own a 4.43 ERA, with all three weekend starters sitting at 4.30 ERA or lower on the year.

Series Notes

The most-played rivalry in Indiana history is with intrastate rival Purdue. The two programs have met 285 times since the first showdown in 1895.
Overall, Indiana leads the all-time series, 151-134-2.
Of the 285 meetings, 43 percent of them have been decided by two runs or fewer, including 10 of the last 20 meetings.
Over the last 20 meetings, IU owns a 13-7 edge in the series. In the 20 meetings prior, Purdue held a 13-7 edge in the matchup.
This will be the seventh straight season the two teams will meet. Prior to not playing in 2015, Indiana and Purdue had played one another in 40 straight seasons (1973-2012).
Indiana has won four of the last five games, including a series win in 2020 in Bloomington.

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Players Mentioned

Bradley Brehmer

Tyler Doanes

Jack Perkins

Josh Pyne

Brock Tibbitts