After three weeks against lower Division I opponents to start the season Purdue takes a significant step up in competition this weekend. The Boilermakers are headed to Oxford, Mississippi to take on Ole Miss, who happens to be the defending national champion. It marks the first time in over 50 years Purdue has faced the defending champion, as the last time was 1967 against Ohio State.
Weekend Schedule
Friday: 7:30pm
Saturday: 2:30pm
Sunday: 2:30pm
All games available for streaming through SEC Network+
Ole Miss has long been one of the top programs in college baseball as a member of the SEC, but last year they made a magical run to their first national championship. They were the consensus “last team in” to the field of 64, and that came with some controversy. They were 14-16 in the SEC and even lost in the first game of the SEC tournament. They were just 32-22, but were picked over a very strong Rutgers team that many felt deserved a bid at 44-15.
Given a chance, the Rebels made the most of it. They were the surprise winner of the Coral Gables regional, beating Arizona, No. 6 national seed Miami, and Arizona again. They then swept a Super Regional at Southern Miss 10-0 and 5-0 to reach the College World Series. In Omaha they beat Auburn and Arkansas, before taking their first postseason loss against the Razorbacks. They then beat Arkansas in a winner-take-all game to reach the championship series, where they swept Oklahoma in two games.
A 10-1 run through the NCAA Tournament as a 3 seed in their regional made them one of the most unlikely National Champions ever. So far this season they look like a team that could repeat. They are 11-2 on the year and ranked in the top 5 of most college baseball polls. They swept Delaware in three games and won a midweek game over Arkansas State before taking two of three against Big Ten favorite Maryland. They then split midweek games with Louisiana Tech before sweeping Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska at the Cambria College Classic in Minneapolis this past weekend. They won a midweek game this week over Southern Miss in prep for Purdue.
As expected from one of the best teams in college baseball, the lineup is quite formidable. Jacob Gonzalez, Ethan Groff, Calvin Harris, and Peyton Chatagnier are all batting .400 or better through 13 games. As a team they are batting a sizzling .352 and they have hit 26 home runs with 121 RBI.
The pitching has been slightly more suspect, as they have a team ERA of 4.54, but that is more than enough to help a potent offense that has scored almost 10 runs per game. Zavier Rivas, Grayson Saunier, and Jack Daugherty have been the primary weekend starters, and they are a combined 7-0. At the back end of the game Mason Nichols was huge as a freshman last year. He was instrumental in their national title run and he has not given up a run in four appearances with two saves so far. Purdue likely won't see Hunter Elliott, who was a freshman All-American last year and opening day starter for the Rebels. He has been out since the opener with a UCL sprain.
Purdue does come in with the reigning Big Ten Player and Pitcher of the week. Paul Toetz was on fire last week to earn league Player of the Week honors. He is batting .395 on the year with 7 home runs and 20 RBI. Evan Albrecht is also setting the table with a blistering .474 average. Kyle Iwinski’s seven inning of one-hit ball against Akron last week earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors, and he leads Purdue with a 0.63 ERA over 14 1/3 innings. Johnathan Blackwell and Khal Stephen have also done well as starters who will round out the rotation.
Purdue has not won a game over a top 25 team since a 4-0 win at Texas early in the 2019 season. Purdue last win over a top 5 team came back in 2006 when the Boilers took one of three at #2 North Carolina.
To put it bluntly, this is a tremendous challenge for the program. Even taking one game from a top 5 team on their home field would be a great accomplishment, and the strength of that win would offset all four losses Purdue has notched this year.
