Purdue Weekend Sports Primer: March 15

While the men’s Big Ten basketball tournament is the premier event this weekend, the other sports in the athletic department will make campus very busy this weekend. Softball had its home opener this weekend. The divers are in Louisville for NCAA qualifying, while both tennis and track are on the road.

Here is the weekend’s schedule:

Baseball – vs. Samford (Friday 4pm, Saturday DH 1pm, Sunday 1pm)

Softball – vs. Omaha (Friday 2pm, Saturday Noon)

Diving – NCAA Qualifying at Louisville Friday

Men’s Tennis – at Boise State (Friday 5pm)

Women’s Tennis – at Charleston Southern (Friday Noon)

Track & Field – at South Florida Alumni Invitational (11am Saturday)

The big home event of the weekend is baseball at home against Samford, who was an NCAA Tournament team a year ago.

Samford (10-5) at Purdue (13-4)

Friday to Sunday, March 15-17 / Watch B1G+

Series Opener: Friday, March 15 at 4 p.m. ET

Doubleheader: Saturday, March 16 at 1 p.m. ET

Series Finale: Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m. ET

Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Game 1: Jordan Morales (Grad, LHP) vs. Samford's Michael Ross (Sr, RHP)

Game 2: Luke Wagner (Sr, LHP) vs. TBA for Samford

Game 3: Kyle Iwinski (Sr, RHP) vs. TBA for Samford

Game 4: Jonathan Blackwell (Sr, LHP) vs. TBA for Samford

Samford is a 6-3 all-time against Purdue, but this is the first time the teams have played in West Lafayette. It is the last weekend before Big Ten play begins next weekend. The Bulldogs were in the NCAA Tournament last year with a 37-25 record and even won their opening game of the Auburn regional over Southern Miss before losing to Penn and Southern Miss. So far Purdue is 4-2 against 2023 NCAA Tournament teams, taking 3 of 4 from George Mason while losing to East Carolina and beating Cal State Fullerton.

Samford has played mostly weak opponents so far, but they have a midweek loss at No. 18 Auburn. Seven of their 10 wins have come against Queens and Bellarmine, who have a combined 5-28 record.

Purdue is currently the best hitting team in the conference with a team average of .310. The pitching staff is also second in the conference with a staff ERA of 4.03. Much of this comes after last weekend’s home sweep of a weak Albany team. Still, Luke Gaffney leads the conference with a .468 average through 16 games with 3 home runs and 23 RBI. He has also been named Freshman of the Week three times already. Camden Gasser is fourth in the league with a .408 average. Gaffney is also leading the Big Ten in RBIs while Connor Caskenette is just behind him with 22.

Samford has also done very well at the plate, batting .315 as a team. Garrett Howe has a .490 average with 2 homers and 10 RBI. Angelo Prieto and John Anderson are also both batting over .400. Ross, their Friday starter, is 3-0 with a 3.22 ERA. He did not pitch due to injury last year but was Second Team all-SoCon in 2022 with a 7-1 record.

This should be a pretty even series on paper. Both teams are hitting the ball very well, while Samford’s pitching has struggled more with a team ERA of 6.61. Wagner and Morales have been good at the top of the rotation for Purdue with a combined 6-1 record. A series win would be great headed into a midweek home game against Illinois-Chicago and the Big Ten opener at home against preseason favorite Iowa next week.

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