Purdue Winter Sports Weekend Primer - March 1

After facing low level competition the last two weeks Purdue baseball has its toughest test of the season this weekend. The Boilers are in Greensboro, North Carolina to play in the Keith Leclair Classic. Purdue played in this tournament and won it in 2012, and East Carolina is a perennial top 15 team. The Boilers begin it by playing the host Pirates at 4:30pm today, and it is the first chance to see Purdue on TV as it is an ESPN+ game.

Purdue (6-2) at the Keith LeClair Classic

Clark-LeClair Stadium / Greenville, N.C.

Friday, March 1 at #11 East Carolina (5-3) at 2 p.m. ET / ESPN+

Saturday, March 2 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (6-3) at 11 a.m. ET

Sunday, March 3 vs. Cal State Fullerton (4-3) at 9 a.m. ET

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday: Jordan Morales (Grad, LHP) vs. ECU's Trey Yesavage (Jr, RHP)

Saturday: Kyle Iwinski (Sr, RHP) vs. SELA's Dakota Lee (R-Jr, RHP)

Sunday: Luke Wagner (Sr, LHP) vs. CSF's Chad Gurnea (Fr, RHP)

Game 1 is the toughest non-conference game Purdue has scheduled this year. The No. 11 rated Pirates are 5-3 on the season, but they are fresh off of taking a series agaisnt No. 17 North Carolina. They also feature one of the most inspiring stories out there in Parker Byrd. Byrd was involved in a boating accident in the summer of 2022 that cost him his right leg below the knee. He was able to rehab and, with the aid of a prosthesis, he became the first amputee to play in a Division I game earlier this year.

The remaining games on the weekend are against solid competition. SE Louisiana is off to a 6-3 start, while Cal State Fullerton is 4-3 despite being one of the elite programs in college baseball year after year. They have already won a series at Stanford, who was a national seed in last year's tournament. This tournament marks the only time they will play outside of California before finishing the regular season at Hawaii in their conference.

Given the step up in competition, Purdue getting two wins this weekend would be a tremendous boost. Purdue currently is the best hitting team in the Big Ten at .319. Luke Gaffney has won consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Week Awards and is leating the Big Ten in hitting at .500 (17 of 34) with 2 HR and 11 RBI. Camden Gasser is fourth in the league batting .476 (10 of 21).

Softball Gets Closer to Home

Week four of the softball season sees Purdue playing a little closer to home as it is at the Thundering Heard Invitational at Marshall.

Friday

at Marshall - 11am

vs. Radford - 4pm

Saturday

vs. Butler - 11am

vs. Radford - 1:30pm

Sunday

at Marshall - 1pm

Sage Scarmado continues to lead Purdue at the plate with .462 average. Moriah Polar has driven in a team high nine runs and has two home runs. Freshman Julia Gossett has performed well in the pitching circle, going 3-1 with a 1.11 ERA in 25 1/3 innings pitched.

Other Weekend Events

Women's Basketball - at Michigan, Sunday 7pm

Men's Swimming & Diving - Big Ten Championships at Ohio State through Sunday

Women's Swimming & Diving - "Last Chance" NCAA qualifying at Purdue through Sunday

Women's Golf - at UNLV's "The Show" Monday & Tuesday

Men's Tennis - vs. DePaul (Friday 1pm) & Cleveland State (Saturday Noon)

Women's Tennis - at Rutgers, Noon Friday

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The 2023-24 season means a new TV deal for the Big Ten. Football and basketball will have games scattered across FOX, FS1, BTN, NBC, CBS, and Peacock. If you're looking for a service that has live sports consider both FuboTV and Hulu (with live sports). Boiler Upload is also an affiliate sponsor with Peacock, where new Peacock subscriptions help keep the lights on here.

Finally, the best way to see a game is in person, so book a room at the Hampton Inn & Suites near campus and get your tickets via Stubhub.