GAME INFORMATION
Purdue (1-3 • 7-7 in 2020) vs. No. 19 Michigan (3-1 • 8-7 in 2020)
Friday, March 12 to Sunday, March 14 / BTN +
Series opening: Friday at 1 pm ET
Double header: Saturday at 9am ET
End of the series: Sunday at 9am ET
Fluor Field / Greenville, South Carolina
PROVABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Coming soon…
SERIES HISTORY
All time: Michigan leads 146-63
All the Time in a Neutral Location: Michigan leads 6-2
Last meeting: Purdue 5, Michigan 4 (2018 Big Ten tournament in Omaha)
Last series: Purdue swept a set of three games (May 2018 at West Lafayette)
Last series at Ann Arbor: Michigan won a set of three games (April 2015)
Last game at a neutral location in the regular season: Michigan 4, Purdue 3 – 10 innings (February 2009 in Clearwater, Florida)
First meeting: Michigan 18, Purdue 0 (April 1983 in Ann Arbor)
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue and Michigan play in the same stadium for the second weekend in a row, but this time they face off at Fluor Field, a replica of Fenway Park in the largest city in South Carolina.
It is another series of four games in a neutral location, with Michigan being the designated home team this weekend. Match times are set for Friday at 1 pm ET, a doubleheader on Saturday at 9 am and Sunday at 9 am. Saturday’s twinbills again consist of a game of seven entries 1 and a game of nine entries 2. However, the night limit can be reduced to seven innings if game 1 reaches at least nine or a team is leading by more 10 races after seven.
Michigan State and Northwestern are also playing at Fluor Field this weekend. Spartans have been frequent visitors to Greenville for the past decade. The owner of Greenville Drive, the Boston Red Sox High-A affiliate that calls the stadium home, is a former MSU student. The Spartans won three out of four against Maryland at Fluor Field last week.
Purdue has played in North Carolina in the past three years and four times since 2015, visiting Cullowhee (2015), Chapel Hill (2018), Marion (2019) and Buies Creek (2020). However, the Boilermakers have not played in Palmetto State since the spring break trip of 2002. This was an eight game tour across the state that featured weekend series in Clemson and Coastal Carolina, as well as games in the middle of the week in Wofford and South Carolina.
The opening weekend of the Big Ten season saw Purdue and Michigan come out victorious on Opening Day, but the Wolverines got three of four from Iowa, while the Boilermakers lost three straight to abandon their series with Nebraska. These games were played at the Triple-A stadium in Round Rock, Texas.
Purdue won all four meetings with Michigan at the end of the 2018 season, punctuated by an unequaled victory on Day 2 of the Big Ten Tournament. The sweep of the series at Alexander Field on the final weekend of the regular season was the first sweep of the Boilermakers at UM since 1993.
Purdue’s four wins against the Wolverines over a period of five games in May 2018 helped propel the Boilermakers to a free spot in a Regional NCAA. In many ways, these wins against UM highlighted the memorable 21-2 winning streak that the team achieved. Skyler Hunter, Ben Nisle, Tyler’s Powers and Trent Johnson are the active Boilermakers who played in those games against the Wolverines.
The following year, it was Michigan that won a general bid for a Regional. The Wolverines received a draw on the West Coast and enjoyed a memorable race to Omaha. They won their Regional at Oregon State and Super Regional at UCLA. The wins against Texas Tech and Florida State in Omaha boosted UM in the championship series against Vanderbilt. The Wolverines won the first match against Vandy before entering a hot launch. From May 17 to June 24 of that season, Michigan recorded an impressive 13-4 record in many high stakes games.
HIGH AND LOW ON THE HILL
• Purdue pitching impressed by his ability to accumulate strikeouts in the Nebraska series. The Boilermakers posted the top five single game totals (Friday 15, Sunday 16) in the program’s history to open and close the series. Their 46 Ks are believed to be a program record for a series of four games and have been confirmed as only the team’s second showing of 40 hits since 2001. But they also struggled to walk on Saturday. The 14 steps issued (in just seven innings) in the doubleheader nightcap corresponded to the maximum that Purdue had allowed in a game since 2001.
• Individually, Jett Jackson was one of six Big Ten pitchers to record a double-digit strikeout total during the league’s opening weekend. By eliminating 10 of the 20 batters he faced, he became only the seventh Boilermaker since 2005 to eliminate at least half of the batters he faced while recording a minimum of five eliminations. Nolan Daniel he almost joined Jackson on the list, fanning four of the six batters he faced in his team debut on Sunday.
• Jackson Smeltz and Jackson hit three consecutive hitters in one entry during the series. Smeltz did this in the ninth inning on Friday to set the stage for Purdue’s victory in the bottom half of the frame.
| MOST OF THE STRIKEOUTS OF A SERIES OF 4 GAMES (SINCE 2001) | |||||
| Station | Opponent | Strikeouts | Appetizer | K / 9 | Results of |
| 2021 | vs Nebraska | 46 | 32 | 12.94 | Lost 3 of 4 |
| 2006 | Northwest | 41 | 32 | 11.53 | Division 2-2 |
| 2017 | in santa clara | 35 | 36 | 8.75 | Won all 4 |
| 2017 | in the state of Texas | 33 | 34 2/3 | 8.57 | Division 2-2 |
| 2011 | in the state of Morehead | 32 | 35 2/3 | 8.07 | Won 3 of 4 |
| 2020 | vs Hofstra | 31 | 36 | 7.75 | Won 3 of 4 |
| 2019 | in Texas | 31 | 33 | 8.45 | Lost 3 of 4 |
| 2004 | Michigan State | 31 | 32 | 8.72 | Won 3 of 4 |
| 2007 | Iowa | 30 | 32 | 8.44 | Division 2-2 |
MOST OF THE GAME (SINCE 2001)
• 14 vs Nebraska – March 2020 (L, 10-0)
• 14 Ohio State – March 2013 (L, 10-1; first game at Alexander Field)
• 11 Minnesota – April 2018 (L, 22-7)
• 11 at the IPFW – April 2009 (L, 22-19)
• 11 in the state of Texas – February 2009 (L, 14-10)
• 10 out of 11 occasions since 2001, most recently: in Texas – February 2019 (L, 7-2)
| WALK-OFFS IN NEUTRAL LOCATION (SINCE 1999) | |||||
| Meeting | Opponent | Localization | Score (entries) | GW RBI | GW Run |
| 03/05/2021 | Nebraska | Round Rock | 6-5 (9) | Zac Fascia | Ben Nisle |
| 03/09/2019 | NJIT | Marion, NC | 9-8 (9) | Cole McKenzie | Tyler’s Powers |
| 5/24/2018 | Michigan* | Omaha, Nebraska | 5-4 (9) | Evan Warden | Milo Beam |
| 2/23/2018 | Incarnate Word | San Antonio, Texas | 5-4 (10) | Nick Dalesandro | Skyler Hunter |
| 03/19/2016 | Ohio | Kokomo, Ind. | 5-4 (15) | Alec Olund | Nick Dalesandro |
| 02/21/2015 | Sam Houston St. | Corpus Christi, Texas | 4-3 (12) | Michael Vilardo | Alec Olund |
| 05/27/2005 | Illinois * | Champaign, Ill. | 4-3 (11) | John Hunter | Eric Wolfe |
| 03/01/2003 | Boston College | Homestead, Florida | 1-0 (9) | Daniel Underwood | Nick McIntyre |
| 3/19/1999 | Knight | Homestand, Florida | 6-5 (10) | Ryan Cole | Ryan Cole |
| * Big Ten Tournament Game (Illinois based in 2005, but Purdue was named home team) | |||||
| INDIVIDUAL DOUBLE FIGURE STRIKEOUT GAMES (SINCE 2010) | |||||||
| Station | Pitcher | Opponent | Strikeouts | Batters faced | Appetizer | K / 9 | Result |
| 2021 | Jett Jackson | vs Nebraska | 10 | 20 | 4 1/3 | 20.78 | L, 4-0 |
| 2019 | Trent Johnson | in Northwestern | 10 | 15 | 4 1/3 | 20.78 | L, 2-1 |
| 2017 | Tanner Andrews | in santa clara | 10 | 27 | 7 2/3 | 11.74 | W, 3-0 |
| 2012 | Lance Breedlove | in the state of Ohio | 10 | 34 | 9 | 10.0 | W, 8-1 |
| 2012 | Lance Breedlove | vs Cincinnati | 11 | 24 | 7 | 14.14 | W, 6-0 |
| 2011 | Matt Morgan | in Lipscomb | 10 | 32 | 9 | 10.0 | W, 1-0 |
| 2010 | Matt Bischoff | Northwest | 10 | 33 | 8 | 11.25 | W, 2-1 |
| 2010 | Matt Bischoff | Penn State | 10 | 26 | 6 | 15.0 | W, 18-7 |
| 2010 | Matt Bischoff | Minnesota | 10 | 32 | 9 | 10.0 | W, 3-2 |
| 2010 | Matt Morgan | in Ohio | 14 | 31 | 7 2/3 | 16.43 | W, 6-2 |
| 2010 | Matt Bischoff | vs Le Moyne | 11 | 28 | 8 | 12.38 | W, 3-0 |
DOUBLE FIGURE HIT PERFORMANCES IN CAREER (SINCE 2005)
8 – Matt Bischoff, 2007-10
• High and most dominant career: 12 vs Mississippi Valley State, 2009 (28 Batters Faced, 43%)
3 – Matt Morgan, 2008-11
• High and most dominant career: 14 in Ohio, 2010 (31 bullies faced, 45%)
2 – Lance Breedlove, 2011-12
• High and most dominant career: 11 vs Cincinnati, 2012 (24 batters faced, 46%)
2 – Dan Sattler, 07/2004
• High Career: 12 – Northwestern, 2006; Most dominant: 10 vs. Chicago State (26 attackers faced, 38%)
2 – Jay Buente, 2003-06
• High Career: 11 in Louisiana, 2006; Most dominant: 10 vs. northwest (21 batters faced, 48%)
2 – Matt Jansen, 2007-10
• High career: 11 in Evansville, 2009; Most dominant: 10 in Evansville, 2010 (29 attackers faced, 34%)
1 – Jett Jackson, 2020-Pr
• High career: 10 vs Nebraska, 2021 (20 batters faced, 50%)
1 – Trent Johnson, 2018-Pr
• High career: 10 at Northwestern, 2019 (15 batters faced, 67%)
1 – Tanner Andrews, 2015-18
• High career: 10 in Santa Clara, 2017 (27 batters faced, 37%)
| GREATER PERCENTAGE OF ATTACKS TO THE FRONT BATTERY Minimum 5 Ks, since 2005 // * = Game started |
|||||
| Pitcher | Station | Opponent | Strikeouts | Batters faced | Percent |
| Pat Gannon | 2012 | vs Anderson | 5 | 7 | 71 |
| Nick Wittgren | 2011 | Iowa | 5 | 7 | 71 |
| Josh Lindblom | 2008 | in Iowa | 5 | 7 | 71 |
| Trent Johnson | 2019 | in Northwestern | 10 | 15 | 67 |
| Joe Eichmann | 2014 | in Butler | 5 | 8 | 63 |
| Allan Donato | 2007 | in Western Kentucky | 5 | 9 | 56 |
| Nick Wittgren | 2011 | Michigan | 6 | 11 | 55 |
| Jett Jackson* | 2021 | vs Nebraska | 10 | 20 | 50 |
| Jay Buente * | 2006 | Northwest | 10 | 21 | 48 |
| Eddie De LaRiva | 2016 | Nebraska | 9 | 19 | 47 |
| Kyle Wood | 2016 | in Western Carolina | 7 | 15 | 47 |
| Dalton Parker | 2017 | in southeastern Missouri | 6 | 13 | 46 |
| Lance Breedlove * | 2012 | vs Cincinnati | 11 | 24 | 46 |
| Matt Morgan * | 2010 | in Ohio | 14 | 31 | 45 |
| Shane Bryant * | 2016 | Ohio State | 9 | 20 | 45 |