Khal Stephen | Purdue University Athletic
Khal Stephen | Purdue University Athletic
Purdue Rides 13-Game NC Win Streak into NJIT Series
Due to rain in the forecast for much of Saturday, the series will now begin with a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m. ET Sunday's series finale remains at 1 p.m. A late afternoon start time is projected for Saturday. Admission is free for all of the Boilermakers' games at Ting Stadium the next two weekends. They host Akron for a four-game set at Ting Park next weekend.
Purdue swept a four-game series vs. Princeton and a three-game set vs. Longwood at Ting Stadium last year. Four of those seven victories came in walk-off fashion, serving as evidence that both were competitive series. The Boilermakers added a quality midweek win at Charlotte on their 11-day North Carolina trip and the 8-0 record on the trip helped power the program-record 15-0 start. Purdue is returning to campus between its two weekend series at Ting Stadium this year.
Cam Thompson accounted for two of the four walk-off hits at Ting Stadium last season, including a game-winning home run in the 11th inning to end the road trip. Jake Stadler and CJ Valdez also delivered walk-off hits. Jake Jarvis scored the game-winning run on Stadler's 13th-inning wall-banger vs. Longwood in what proved to be the longest game of the 2022 season.
The Boilermakers have won 13 consecutive games in North Carolina dating back to a March 2019 series win vs. NJIT. The first and only other previous meetings between the two teams was played at Big League Camp in Marion, North Carolina. It was a late addition to the schedule after both teams had originally scheduled series canceled due to winter weather.
Along with last year's 8-0 road trip, Purdue also went 3-0 in Buies Creek to win the Campbell Invitational during the second weekend of the 2020 season. The Boilermakers have beaten seven different teams during their 13-game win streak in North Carolina.
Due in part to the schedule changes and the doubleheader moving to Friday, Purdue has opted to shuffle its rotation while keeping the same quartet of starters in place. CJ Backer moves to game 2 of the series and the nightcap of Friday's doubleheader. Coming off Tommy John Surgery, Calvin Schapira moves to game 4 for additional rest and to potentially reduce extended innings for the bullpen to cover earlier in the series as Schapira continues to build up his allotted pitch count. Jonathan Blackwell moves up to game 3 after he worked five innings of one-run ball in his team debut Sunday.
NJIT has moved from the Atlantic Sun Conference to the America East Conference since it last played the Boilermakers in 2019. The Highlanders opened their season with a series win at Davidson last weekend, scoring 26 runs over the final two days to take two of three after losing 4-3 on Opening Day. NJIT is playing its first 10 games in the state of North Carolina, returning to the Raleigh area next weekend for a three-game set at NC State.
Like Purdue, the Highlanders are active on the base paths and had four players with 10-plus stolen bases last season. NJIT finished the season 87 of 107 in stolen bases attempts in 53 games last year. Purdue was 116 of 135 in 50 games.
ACTIVE STREAK DATING BACK TO 2022
• Evan Albrecht – Hit safely in 7 straight games
• Paul Toetz – Reached base safely in 7 straight games
HIGH & LOWS FROM THE SEASON-OPENING WEEKEND
• Hit 11 home runs, with eight different Boilermakers going deep
• Scored 41 runs in 31 innings at the plate
• .971 team fielding percentage & three pickoffs
• .348 batting average with runners in scoring position
• Batted .396 with two outs, registering 19 two-out hits and 21 two-out RBI
• Scored four runs in an inning three times
• On the Mound: 19 strikeouts vs. 18 walks
• At the Plate: 28 strikeouts vs. 16 walks
• Nine wild pitches in 33 innings
• With a runner on third and less than two outs, scored that runner in 8 of 14 opportunities (57%)
2022 PURDUE LEADERS AT TING STADIUM (7-GAME TOTALS)
• CJ Valdez: 11-for-25, .440/.531/.600, 4 2B, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 3 R, Sac Fly, SB – Hit Safely in all 7 Games
• Evan Albrecht: 9-for-26, .346/.433/.462, 3 2B, 4 RBI, BB, 3 HBP, 3 R, 4 SB
• Cam Thompson: 9-for-27, .333/.471/.556, 3 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 4 HBP, 7 R, SB – On Base in all 7 Games
• Mike Bolton Jr.: 7-for-27, .259/.400/.444, 3 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 6 BB, HBP, 3 R, 3 SB – On Base in all 7 Games
• Jake Jarvis: 4-for-9, .444/.583/.444, 2 BB, HBP, 3 R, 2 SB
• Jake Parr: 3-for-10, .300/.417/.700, 2B, HR, BB, HBP, 3 R, SB
• Khal Stephen: 2-0, 4 App, 7 IP, 2 H, BB, 5 K, 1.29 ERA, .087 B/Avg
• CJ Backer: 2 App, 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, BB, 5 K, 1.35 ERA, .360 B/Avg
Original source can be found here.
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