Only three weeks remain in the college baseball regular season and Purdue is in need of some victories. Last weekend saw Purdue drop two of three at Illinois to fall to 7-14 int he Big Ten with nine games to go. Right now Purdue trails Rutgers, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan State by two games for one of the final 12 spots in the Big Ten Tournament in Omaha, but the Boilermakers have plenty of opportunity to make up ground. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Rutgers and they still have home series left with Nebraska and Northwestern.

Purdue's midweek game was a special one as the Boilers defeted Notre Dame 11-5. It was hte first visit to West Lafayette for hte Fighting Irish since 1997 and Purdue's first win over then in West Lafayette since 1995.

Overall, Purdue is a solid 26-18, but with an RPI of 126 they are not in a position to receive an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament. They probably won't get there unless they close the season on a tear, either.

Still, reaching the Big Ten Tournament (and potentially stealing an automatic bid) is possible. The Boilers must win the weekend series with Northwestern first though.

Northwestern (20-22, 9-12) at Purdue (26-18, 7-14 Big Ten)

Series Opener: Friday, May 2 at 6 p.m.

Middle Game: Saturday, May 3 at 2 p.m.

Series Finale: Sunday, May 4 at 1 p.m.

Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday: Carter Doorn (Sr, RHP) vs. NU's Sam Hliboki (Gr, RHP)

Saturday: Cole Van Assen (So, RHP) vs. NU's Christian Forniss (Fr, LHP)

Sunday: TBA for Both Teams

Doorn and Van Assen followed up rough outings at Penn State with solid outings against the Illini, but Purdue still dropped their games 6-4 and 3-1. After scoring just once on Saturday the offense exploded in a 20-4 seven inning win on Sunday, which included a 14 run third inning where Purdue batted around twice.

Logan Sutter is back on a tear as one of the best hitters in the Big Ten. He is currently second in the league with a .375 average and he leads the conference in RBI with 57. He is also 10th in home runs with 13. That will help against a Northwestern offense that ranks 17th in the conference in average. The Wildcats are also 16th in ERA as a team, with a mark just below seven. They are also coming off a 2-1 series loss at Washington.

This is basically a must-win series for Purdue. It is hard to see the Boilers making the Big Ten Tournament if it loses the series, especially if it gets swept. A series win gives Purdue another critical tiebreaker too.

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