This weekend is a win or go home weekend for Purdue baseball. In what has been a strange season the Boilermakers have done incredibly well outside of the Big Ten. They are 20-4 there with wins over Arizona State, Notre Dame, and Ball State as potential NCAA Tournament teams. Three of the losses were even by a single run in the late innings to Akron, Indiana State, and Northern Illinois. It has been enough that Purdue is a solid 30-21 overall, and could have two more wins if not for rainouts against Illinois-Chicago and Ball State.

The Big Ten portion of the schedule has been disappointing, however. A midseason swoon that saw Purdue get swept by UCLA and Washington in consecutive weeks as well as series losses to Michigan, Penn State, Illinois, and Indiana has Purdue currently on the outside looking in at next week’s Big Ten Tournament.

Purdue is just 10-17 in conference play, and if they were 17-10 (a real possibility, givent hat it has seven losses by 2 runs or less) they would solidly be in the NCAA Tournament. At 10-17 they are in 15th place in the Big Ten, ahead of only Minnesota and Ohio State. The top 12 go to the Big Ten Tournament next week in Omaha, and Purdue still has a chance to get there.

Nebraska (26-26, 13-14 Big Ten) at Purdue (30-21, 10-17 Big Ten)

Thursday, May 15 to Saturday, May 17 / Stream B1G+

Series Opener: Thursday, May 15 at 6 p.m. ET

Middle Game: Friday, May 16 at 6 p.m. ET

Series Finale: Saturday, May 17 at 2 p.m. ET

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Thursday: Michael Vallone (Grad, LHP) vs. Nebraska's Tucker Timmerman (So, RHP)

Friday: TBA for Purdue vs. Nebraska's Ty Horn (So, RHP)

Saturday: TBA for Purdue vs. Nebraska's Jackson Brockett (Sr, LHP)

First, Purdue almost certainly has to sweep Nebraska this weekend in the regular season final series that starts tonight. According to Purdue’s baseball SID, here is what needs to happen this weekend for the Boilermakers to reach the Big Ten Tournament:

Entering the weekend, the Boilermakers (10-17 Big Ten) are two games behind the three teams (Illinois, Michigan State, Northwestern) tied for 11th place in the Big Ten standings at 12-15. The top 12 qualify for the expanded Big Ten Tournament next week in Omaha. A sweep of Nebraska (13-14) would allow Purdue to pull even with the Huskers in the standings while also earning a tiebreaker. Rutgers (13-14) and Maryland (11-16) are also in the heart of the Big Ten Tournament chase and play each other this weekend in College Park, which does not help Purdue's cause as UMD is one game ahead while also currently outside the top 12. If the Boilers drop a game this weekend, they can no longer catch Rutgers and Nebraska in the standings. In that one-loss scenario, they would need MSU and Northwestern to be swept this weekend to still have a chance to qualify (in part because Purdue would have head-to-head tiebreakers). Illinois owns a head-to-head tiebreaker vs. the Boilers and plays at last-place Ohio State this weekend.

Nebraska is coming off of a series win over Michigan last week. They have won four straight series two games to one since losing a series to league leading Iowa a few weeks ago. They also have an impressive non-conference series win over No. 10 Oregon State and a win over No. 9 Vanderbilt.

It is safe to say Purdue is up against it this weekend. Michael Vallone has moved into he No. 1 starter spot, but has made only one start all year with 19 relief appearances. He has still been one of Purdue’s most effective pitchers. Expect Cole Van Assen and Carter Doorn to get the other two slots this weekend, but this is a staff that has been roughed up as season has wound down. Purdue has dropped four straight series openers too.

Boiler Upload is an affiliate partner with Homefield Apparel, a premium collegiate apparel brand based in Indianapolis. They feature licensed vintage designs for over 150 different colleges and universities from the Colorado School of Mines all the way to most of the Big Ten. This, of course, includes Purdue. I can speak from experience that their Purdue line is fabulous, including the awesome 1967 Rose Bowl retro tee. Visit Homefield and use code BOILERUPLOAD for a discount on their unique designs.