Weekend Purdue Sports Primer: April 19
Can Purdue baseball make the NCAA Tournament? With an updated RPI of 61 they are in that range of “work to do” where they are likely not in the field as of this moment, but they could play their way in. As of now Purdue sits at 24-13 after beating Ball State on Tuesday 13-3. They have won eight of nine and seven consecutive in the Big Ten.
There are not a ton of opportunities left for marquee wins left on the schedule. According to D1Baseball’s latest projections, the Boilers have just one game left against a projected NCAA Tournament team in Illinois-Chicago, who is the “last team in”.
The last time Purdue made the tournament was 2018, where it had 34 wins entering the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue has 18 or 19 games left on the schedule (pending a postponed midweek game vs. Valparaiso). One is against DePauw, which will not count on their NCAA profile since they are not a Division I team. If Purdue can win another 12 games (or more) going into the Big Ten Tournament it should at least be in the discussion for a bid.
Purdue’s non-conference profile is decent. The 4-game series split with a projected NCAA team in Samford helps. Purdue has played a pair of possible regional hosts in Indiana State and East Carolina, but it lost both games to the Trees and its lone game against ECU. The best chip in Purdue’s favor is its road sweep at Rutgers.
Speaking of the Big Ten, this week is Purdue’s “bye” week in conference play. Since Wisconsin does not have a baseball program there are only 13 Big Ten teams, so one team has to play a non-conference series each week during the Big Ten schedule. This week Purdue hosts East Tennessee State at Alexander Field as a result.
GAMEDAY INFORMATION
East Tennessee State (22-12, 6-6 SoCon) at Purdue (24-13, 8-4 Big Ten)
Series Opener: Friday, April 19 at 6 p.m. ET
Middle Game: Saturday, April 20 at 5 p.m. ET
Series Finale: Sunday, April 21 at 1 p.m. ET
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Jordan Morales (Grad, LHP) vs. ETSU's Carter Fink (Jr, RHP)
Saturday: Luke Wagner (Sr, LHP) vs. ETSU's Kenny Keller (Jr, LHP)
Sunday: Jonathan Blackwell (Sr, LHP) vs. ETSU's Michael Harpster (Fr, RHP)
SERIES HISTORY
All-Time: East Tennessee State leads 3-1
All-Time in West Lafayette: First Meetings
Previous Series: ETSU won 3 of 4 (March 2016 in Johnson City)
This is the type of series that can still be very helpful for Purdue, as the Bucs have an RPI of 78. The have played a common opponent in Samford, losing two of three to the SoCon leaders in conference play.
This should be an interesting series. Purdue’s pitching was lights out last weekend, giving up just three runs to Michigan State. Purdue is now second in the Big Ten in ERA at 4.53 and it leads the conference with three shutouts on the season. The weekend rotation of Morales, Wagner, and Blackwell have been solid.
ETSU counters with a potent offense averaging over 8 runs per game. They are ninth in the nation with a .322 batting average. Their pitching is at a team ERA of 6.50, so Purdue does have an edge on the mound. The Boilers’ own offense has been on a tear of late. Connor Caskenette drove in seven runs on Tuesday against Ball State and freshman Luke Gaffney is second in the Big Ten with a .417 average. He is leading the conference with 47 RBI, while Caskenette is one behind him with 46. Both are in the top 10 in the conference with 8 home runs.
After a pair of weekend sweeps a home seep of ETSU would be huge for Purdue. It would probably get Purdue on the happy side of the Bubble before the back half of Big Ten play, where the schedule is favorable.
Other Purdue Sports:
Softball – vs. #21 Northwestern 5pm Friday, 2pm Saturday, 1pm Sunday
Men’s Tennis – at Illinois 7pm Friday, at Northwestern 1pm Sunday
Women’s Tennis – at Indiana 2pm Friday
Women’s Golf – Big Ten Championships (Maryland) Friday-Sunday
Men’s Golf – Robert Kepler Intercollegiate (Ohio State) Friday-Sunday
Track & Field – Jim Green Invitational (at Kentucky)