Boilers, Nittany Lions prepare for weekend

By Seth Schwartz
Senior Writer

The Purdue baseball team hosts Penn State for a four-game series that could be pivotal in the Big Ten standings.

The Boilermakers (16-14, 8-2 Big Ten) are playing at home for the first time in nine games. Their last game at Lambert Field was March 27 against Valparaiso. Purdue won the game 15-4.

Penn State (17-18, 7-3 Big Ten) went to the NCAA Super Regionals last year and returns most of its players from that year’s squad. The two teams split the four-game series last year. Purdue leads the all-time series, 11-9.

Boilermaker Coach Doug Schreiber expects a competitive weekend.

"They were leading the Big Ten prior to last weekend," said Schreiber. "They stumbled a little bit against Iowa, so they’re ready to get back on it. It should be a real good weekend of competitive baseball."

Timely hits will be key in the series, like they are in most Big Ten games, but especially because both teams play exceptional defense.

"They’re a little similar to us, but they probably have a bit more power than we do," said Schreiber. "It’s going to be a matter of who can get the timely hits in that regard. They’re playing good defense. They’re one of the top teams in the league in team defense, as we are. Pitching-wise, they’ve got some guys that have come back from that team that went to Super Regionals last year."

Senior center fielder Nate Sickler, who is leading the team in hitting, knows that Penn State will come out ready to play a tough game, because both teams are contending for the Big Ten championship.

"They’ve got something to prove, just like we do," said Sickler. "They’re going to come out and be ready to play. They want to win the Big Ten championship just like we do, so it’s going to be a good series this weekend."

Sickler is on a 14-game hitting streak and batting .430. In Purdue’s 109-year baseball history, three players have finished a season batting better than .400. Phil Hollis hit .432 in 1991, P.J. Dietrick batted .407 in 1984 and Terry Wedgewood hit .406 in 1971.

Sickler also has 17 doubles, three shy of Jermaine Allensworth’s record of 20 set in the 1992 season. The senior's career total is now up to 55 and he needs only six more to tie Purdue’s all-time record of 61 held by Elam Rossy, who played from 1982 to 1985.

"Hitting is contagious and our whole team is hitting well," said Sickler. "At the beginning of the year, the bats were a little slow and we faced some good pitching right away at the beginning. I think that carried over where you’ve faced some good pitching and then you start seeing these other pitchers that are supposed to be pretty good too, but it all looks the same now."

The Boilers played at Butler on Wednesday and won 10-2. Sickler had possibly one of the best individual performances by a Boilermaker in a game, going 5-for-5 while hitting for the cycle, including two home runs. He accounted for eight of the team’s 10 RBIs and scored twice.

Asked what it meant to him to have hit for the cycle in a game, Sickler was very modest.

"It’s an accomplishment, but I’ve got to take it in stride," he said. "Now, we’ve got a big series this weekend."

Ben Quick will be the starting pitcher for game on Friday, which starts at 3 p.m. Chadd Blasko will pitch the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader at 1 p.m. and David Gassner will pitch the second. On Sunday at noon Sean O’Neil, who leads the team in wins with four, will pitch.

With the team playing at home for the first time in more than two weeks, Schreiber doesn’t believe that it matters to the players where they actually play.

"Actually, the road in the Big Ten is being good to us right now," he said. "I think we’re at the point where I don’t think our guys really care where we play. We knew that this was going to be one of those odd years where we have 12 home Big Ten games and 16 on the road. So we knew that we would have to be a little bit of road warriors, opening up this season with however many games we had (on the road).

"I think (the players) feel comfortable with the routine and being on the road as much as we have. I think that being at home is a little bit of a comfort, too. It’s always nice to be able play in front of your surroundings, but we’ve had a pretty good following on the road with fans and parents. I just look for us to be able to compete and play hard. It would be nice to be able to do it at home, too."

Sickler is excited that the team is playing at Lambert Field.

"I love playing at home," he said. "You don’t have to worry about the wake-up calls and all that, just get up and come right out here. Now the other team has to worry about traveling and all that."

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Boilers, Nittany Lions prepare for weekend

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