Purdue Set for First Series at Evansville in a Decade

GAMEDAY INFORMATION

Purdue (9-7) at Evansville (10-7)
Friday-Sunday, March 17-19
Braun Stadium / Evansville, Indiana
Series Opener: Friday, March 17 at 4 p.m. ET
Middle Game: Saturday, March 18 at 3 p.m. ET
Series Finale: Sunday, March 19 at 2 p.m. ET

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday: Aaron Suval (Jr, RHP) vs. UE’s Nick Smith (Jr, RHP)

Saturday: Jonathan Blackwell (Jr, LHP) vs. UE’s Tyler Denu (Sr, LHP)

Sunday: Kyle Iwinski (Jr, RHP) vs. UE’s Donovan Schultz (Jr, LHP)

SERIES HISTORY

All-Time: Purdue leads 20-16

All-Time in Evansville: Purdue leads 10-5

Last Series: Purdue won 2 of 3 (March 2013 in Evansville)

First Meeting: Purdue 5, Evansville 4 (April 1947 in Evansville)

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue baseball’s final weekend series before Big Ten Conference play begins doubles as the Boilermakers’ first visit to Evansville in a decade.

First pitch at Braun Stadium in the state’s southwest corner is slated for 4 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday (all ET). The start time for the series opener was moved up due to cold temperatures in the forecast.

Purdue is also slated to host the Purple Aces on April 4 at Alexander Field.

Three years ago, the Boilermakers were scheduled to leave on a road trip to Evansville on March 12. The team never boarded the bus. Instead, news came down that afternoon that all NCAA sports were shut down for the remainder of the school year. The in-state series resumes this season and represents the first of three road trips inside the state for Purdue. The Boilermakers also visit Terre Haute on March 28 and Bloomington on May 12-14.

Purdue has scored 82 runs over its last eight games. The Boilermakers have done it even with a pair of games during that stretch in which they scored just one run. Big innings have fueled the scoring surge; they’ve scored at least three times in a frame 13 times in the last seven games.

Paul Toetz enters the weekend leading the Big Ten with eight home runs and 27 RBI. He’s aiming to overtake teammate Cam Thompson as the fastest Boilermaker to reach the 30-RBI mark since 2001.

RACKING UP THE RBI EARLY – RBI IN THE FIRST 16 GAMES

• Cam Thompson in 2022: 25 (8 multi-RBI games – 1 4-RBI, 2 3-RBI, 5 2-RBI)

• Paul Toetz in 2023: 27 (6 multi-RBI games – 2 6-RBI, 1 4-RBI, 3 3-RBI)