Purdue Weekend Sports Primer: March 22

All eyes will be on Indianapolis today as Purdue finally takes the floor in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers are a big favorite, as expected, but we know anything can happen. That’s why it is a good idea to have a backup plan in place. That’s why Matt Ramos is here.

Ramos is competing in the NCAA Wrestling championships in Kansas City and he is into today’s quarterfinals at 125 pounds. He is the 4 seed like last year and he will wrestled 12 seeded Anthony Noto of Lehigh in the morning session before a potential semifinal match tonight. Greyson Clark is also in the consolation rounds at 141 pounds.

Here is the rest of the schedule for the weekend, with a breakdown for the baseball Big Ten opener.

Women’s Basketball – at Butler 7pm Monday

Softball – at Michigan, 2pm Saturday, 1 pm Sunday, 4pm Monday

Men’s Golf – Hootie at Bull’s Bay, Charleston, SC Sunday-Tuesday

Women’s Diving – NCAA Championships at Athens, GA

Men’s Tennis – at Indiana, 3pm Saturday

Women’s Tennis – vs. Penn State, Noon Saturday; vs. Ohio State, Noon Sunday

Baseball

Iowa (11-9) at Purdue (15-7)

Friday to Sunday, March 22-24 / Watch B1G+

Series Opener: Friday, March 22 at 4 p.m. ET

Middle Game: Saturday, March 23 at 1 p.m. ET

Series Finale: Sunday, March 24 at 1 p.m. ET

Alexander Field / West Lafayette, Indiana

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday: Jordan Morales (Grad, LHP) vs. Iowa's Brody Brecht (Jr, RHP)

Saturday: Luke Wagner (Sr, LHP) vs. Iowa's Cade Obermueller (So, LHP)

Sunday: TBA for Both Teams

For the third straight weekend Purdue baseball is at home, and this weekend it is against the preseason Big Ten favorite. The Boilers dropped a midweek heartbreaker to Illinois-Chicago 6-5 in 14 innings on Wednesday. It was the longest game in the history of Alexander Field.

Purdue does enter Big Ten play in decent shape to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, but it has work to do. Purdue is currently 15-7 on the year and at 95 in the RPI. After reaching last year’s tournament and winning a pair of games a lot was expected of Iowa this season, but the Hawkeyes are off to a rough start. They had a recent stretch where they lost 5 of 7 to Ole Miss, Georgia, and Jacksonville State, but are currently on a four game winning streak after sweeping Western Illinois last weekend. They have played a much tougher schedule than Purdue, as they have single losses to ranked teams in Auburn and Virginia.

Purdue’s hitting has cooled slightly to .299 as a team, but Iowa is second in the conference at .319. Sam Petersen leads them with a .403 average with 5 HR and 20 RBI. Purdue still has two of the best hitters in the conference. Camden Gasser is third in the league at .418 with a home run and 16 RBI. Luke Gaffney is sixth at .405 with 3 HR and 25 RBI.

Friday starter Brody Brecht has not been involved in a decision yet this year, but he does have a 1.54 ERA while often going up against the opposing team’s ace. Obermueller has also been excellent with a 2.35 ERA, but he has a 1-1 record. Wagner for Purdue leads the Big Ten in wins and is 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA, so Saturday’s game should be a great pitching matchup. Morales is 3-2 on the year with a 4.10 ERA.

If Purdue can get off to a good start with a series win this weekend it should be competitive in the conference all year. Purdue goes to Ohio State next weekend before traveling to Rutgers. Both weekends will be tough.

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