The last few seasons have seen Purdue baseball get off to a hot start thanks to a relatively easy schedule of handpicked opponents on neutral fields as the program waits for the home opener. This is different. The Boilermakers were invited to take part in the prestigious Round Rock Classic at Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas. It is one of the top early season tournaments in college baseball and it is always on the second weekend of the year.
Purdue enters the weekend at 2-2 after a midweek 5-2 loss
at Rice. It will face No. 20 Southern Miss (3-1) today at 3pm ET, Baylor (4-0) tomorrow at 2pm tomorrow, and #12 Oregon State (3-1) at noon on Sunday. It is an intense field. Baylor may not be ranked, but they are solid team where Tyce Armstrong hit three grand slams in their season opener agaisnt New Mexico State last week.
Yes, he did all of that in one 15-2 win.
Southern Miss was an NCAA regional host a year ago, falling at home in a winner-take-all game to Miami (FL) in the final. They lost their season opener last week at home to UC-Santa Barbara, but won the next two and took a midweek game from SE Louisiana. Oregon State has been one of the premier programs in all of college baseball this century. They have won three National Championships and made six appearances in Omaha since 2005. That includes last season, where they lost their first game of their home regional to St. Mary’ before winning it out of the loser’s bracket. They then beat Florida State in a home super regional to reach the College World Series. They won their first game over in Louisville before falling to Coastal Carolina and Louisville to be a eliminated.
All three teams are strong contenders to make this eyar’s NCAA field, and both Southerm Miss and Oregon State will be in the conversation to host. The Beavers had the toughest opening weekend, playing four games at the College Baseball Series opener against Michigan, Arizona, and Stanford. They split two games with Michigan while beating a ranked Arizona team 7-6 and Stanford 3-2.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Purdue (2-2, 31-23 in 2025) at the Round Rock Classic
Friday, Feb. 20 to Sunday, Feb. 22 / Stream via D1Baseball.com
Dell Diamond / Round Rock, Texas
Friday at 3 p.m. ET: Purdue vs. #20 Southern Miss (3-1, 47-16 in 2025)
Saturday at 2 p.m. ET: Purdue vs. Baylor (4-0, 33-22 in 2025)
Sunday at Noon ET: Purdue vs. #11 Oregon State (3-1, 48-16-1 in 2025)
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday: Cole Van Assen (Jr, RHP) vs. USM’s Colby Allen (Sr, RHP)
Saturday: Zach Erdman (Sr, LHP) vs. BU’s Ethan Calder (Sr, LHP)
Sunday: Jarvis Evans (Sr, LHP) vs. OSU’s Eric Segura (Jr, RHP)
The Boilers will avoid Oregon State’s Dax Whitney, who is a preseason All-American and high level MLB prospect as a starter. They will also avoid Ethan Kleinschmit, who is a preseason Second Team All-American and their No. 2 arm.
Purdue does need to watch out for Southern Miss’ Colby Allen. He was a Second Team Preseason All-American according to Perfect Game, and he finished last year with 12 saves for the Golden Eagles.
To be honest, this is not a promising weekend for Purdue, especially after it struggled with lowly Portland last weekend. The other three teams in the field are significantly ahead of the Boilers in the college baseball world. If Purdue escapes the weekend with one win it would be impressive. Anything else would be huge for any nacent NCAA Tournament hopes the program has. The Big Ten is already going to be much better with preseason No. 1 UCLA, Oregon, and USC as potentially dominant west coast teams. This weekend is like getting all three in one weekend.
At the plate Purdue has been lopsided so far. CJ Richmond, Westin Boyle, and Aaron Manias have combined for 17 hits through four games and have driven in eight runs. As for everyone else? 15 hits and 5 RBI. The starting pitching of Cole Van Assen, Zach Erdman, and Jarvis Evans was solid. Erdman even through eight shutout innings last week in the 2-1 Saturday win, but as usual, Purdue’s bullpen needs to shore up.
