WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Twenty-two home dates along with a neutral-site series with Ohio in Kokomo highlights Purdue baseball’s 2016 schedule, unveiled by head coach Doug Schreiber.
The Boilermakers are scheduled to open the 2016 campaign in Atlanta with a game against assistant coach Wally Crancer’s alma mater, Georgia Tech. Purdue will also play at Kennesaw State and at Georgia State during the season-opening weekend and return to the Atlanta area the weekend of March 4 to 6 for neutral-site action at the LakePoint Sporting Community complex.
The home opener at Alexander Field is set for Wednesday, March 23 against Louisville. The Boilermakers are scheduled to host Nebraska, Michigan State, Ohio State and Minnesota for Big Ten weekend series. Michigan State and Minnesota will both be making their first appearances at Alexander Field. Cal State Northridge is on the slate for a four-game series the final weekend of the regular season (May 19-22), which is Purdue’s open weekend in the Big Ten schedule.
The Boilermakers host Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, Ball State and Indiana State during a six-game homestand in mid-April. Eight of Purdue’s final 10 regular-season games, including the last two weekend series, are scheduled to be played at home as well.
The Purdue-Ohio series in mid-March is scheduled to be played at the new Kokomo Municipal Stadium, which features an artificial turf playing surface. It’s the home of the Kokomo Jackrabbits, a collegiate wood bat summer league team in the Prospect League. Purdue baseball alumnus and Kokomo resident Rex Gingerich (1984-87) helped the March 18 to 20 series come to fruition. Ohio is led by former Purdue pitching coach Rob Smith (1999, 2002-06).
The Big Ten Tournament returns to TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, which is also the site of the College World Series. The Big Ten Tournament drew record crowds when it was held in Omaha for the first time in 2014. The Boilermakers are schedule to play Big Ten road series at Penn State, Indiana, Maryland and Northwestern. Purdue will get its first look at UMD’s Bob “Turtle” Smith Stadium during what is believed to be the program’s first ever trip to the state of Maryland.
Western Michigan and VCU are also participating in the six-team Atlanta Invitational during the season-opening weekend. Purdue, WMU and VCU play one game apiece against the three Atlanta-area schools hosting the event. Georgia Tech, Kennesaw State and Georgia State regularly play each other in midweek action. Purdue last played in three different stadiums in the same weekend at the 2013 Big Ten/Big East Challenge.
The Boilermakers still have one game left to fill on their schedule and it could become a game during spring break (March 14-18) on campus.
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
• Home Games: 22
• Road Games: 24
• Neutral-Site Games: 9 (plus Big Ten & NCAA Tournaments if Purdue qualifies)
• Big Ten Home: Nebraska, Michigan State, Ohio State, Minnesota
• Big Ten Road: Penn State, Indiana, Maryland, Northwestern
• Big Ten Non-Play: Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Rutgers
• Big Ten Tournament: May 25 to 29 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha (top 8 qualify)
• Non-Conference Weekend Series: at Cal, vs. Ohio in Kokomo, home vs. Cal State Northridge
• Non-Conference Tournaments: Two in the Atlanta area, Kansas’ Millard Management Classic
• Midweek: Ball State (2), Valparaiso (2), Indiana State (2), IPFW (2), Louisville, Eastern Michigan, Illinois State
• 2015 NCAA Tournament Qualifiers: Cal, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Ohio
• First-Time Foes: Cal, Kennesaw State, Georgia State, East Tennessee State, Kansas
• Familiar Faces: Ohio and Northwestern are both coached by former Purdue assistants. Rob Smith (1999, 2002-06) enters his fourth season as the head coach at Ohio. Spencer Allen (2008-09) is in his first year as the head coach at Northwestern.
• It’s Been a While: The Boilermakers have not hosted Minnesota since the opening weekend of the 2010 conference season. In the years since, Purdue has the played the Gophers at Target Field (2011) and the new-look Siebert Field (2014) in Minneapolis. Minnesota was not on the Boilermakers’ schedule in 2012, 2013 and 2015. With Michigan State also making its first trip to Alexander Field this spring, Illinois and Indiana will be the only the conference rivals yet to play at the fourth-year ballpark. Coincidentally, they’re the two universities in the league located closest to Purdue’s campus.
