Who wants to keep the good news going around here? Well, you’re in luck. Three series into the Big Ten season Purdue baseball is off to a solid start, and against a much stronger schedule than in previous years. A few weeks ago they took a game from Oregon, who is comfortably in the top 25 this season. They have since won a pair of Big Ten series, beating Maryland last week andPenn State this week.
The Boilers are now 22 games into the season and they sit with a solid 15-7 record. They are also on the good
side in the Big Ten at 5-4. As we approach the halfway point of the 56 game regular season they might even be an NCAA Tournament team. College baseball still uses the RPI, but Purdue has four Tier 1 RPI wins already. That is already a tremendous improvement over the last five years, where the Boilers had a grand total of two total.
The two best wins are over Oregon and Oregon State. Both are perennial NCAA teams and both could be in the running to host regionals this year. The two wins in three games at Maryland also count as tier 1 wins. Purdue can still add to that total with series at Northwestern and USC. As things tand now, Purdue’s own RPI sits at 51, but there are chances to go higher.
So far the biggest struggle in Big Ten play has been Sunday games. Purdue was blasted by Oregon 15-4 a few weeks ago when it had the chance to win the series at home. Last Sunday Purdue was leading Maryland 5-0 before falling 10-9. Today the pitching struggled agaisnt Penn State in a 14-9 loss.
Saturday starter Zach Erdman has been excellent, as he is 3-0 with a 3.78 ERA, having won all three Big Ten starts. The wins over Oregon and Penn State were 2-1 games where he had very strong outings. Cole Van Assen and Jarvis Evans have also been solid in the Friday and Sunday starter roles, respectfully.
In fact, if you’re looking for one area of weakness it has been the bullpen. High profile transfer Jake Kramer has been all over the place at the back end. He does have four saves, but he is also 2-3 with an ERA over 8. Austin Klug (4-1) and Trevor Kester-Johnson have been decent though in relief roles. Klug has also served as a starter in midweek games.
At the plate Sam Flores and CJ Richmond each have five home runs, while Eli Anderson is batting a blistering .393 on the year. Westin Boyle has also driven in 19 runs. As a team Purdue is batting .316 on the year, giving it the second best offense in the conference.
So can Purdue make the tournament? Well, it is certainly possible. winning at game or two at USC (who leads the Big Ten at 24-1 overall and 8-1 in league play, would help a lot, as that is the highest profile team Purdue still has to play. One of Purdue’s wins pretty much does not count, as the Boilers scheduled NAIA Oakland City at the last minute this past week when weather cancelled a road game at Butler. Purdue probably needs to get in the neighborhood of 35 wins overall and a top five finish in the Big Ten to be in the running for an NCAA bid.
This coming week Purdue has midweek home games against Valparaiso on Tuesday and Illinois-Chicago on Wednesday. They then go to Michigan State, who is only 7-15, but they did win a series earlier in the year at Louisville, who was in last year’s College World Series.
I’ll have more later this week, but for now, baseball is off to a pretty good start.
