Purdue Baseball Announces 2022 Schedule

As a northern team it is rare for Purdue to play most of its games at home, but this year breaks new ground in that department. Teams are allowed to play a 56-game regular season, and exactly half of those games will be at home at Alexander Field as Purdue baseball announced its 2022 schedule today. It is hard to believe, but it will be the first “normal” season in three years. Everything gets going February 18th.

February 18-20 vs. South Dakota State (Constellation Field, Sugar Land, Texas) 4 games

Purdue begins the season in the same state it did last year, and it will be the first non-conference game since early March 2020 since last year was an all-Big Ten schedule. South Dakota State was 15-32 a year ago. This series will feature a Saturday doubleheader.

February 25-27 vs. Princeton (Ting Stadium, Holly Springs, NC) 4 games

This will be the same format of four games with a Saturday doubleheader, and it comes against a Princeton team that did not play at all in 2021 since all Ivy League sports were cancelled (though Penn played 14 games independently).

March 2 at Charlotte

Purdue will stay in the state of North Carolina for an entire week, so it will play a Wednesday night true road game at Charlotte. It will be a quality game too, as the 49ers were the Conference USA champs last year and went 40-21. They won a game over Maryland in the NCAA tournament before losing back to back games at East Carolina and against Maryland again to get eliminated.

March 4-6 vs. Longwood (Ting Stadium, Holly Springs, NC) 3 games

Purdue gets another neutral site series, this time against a Longwood team that was 17-32 a year ago and finished last in the Big South.

March 11-13 vs. Bellarmine

If all goes well Purdue will open the home season with Bellarmine from nearby Louisville. The Knights are still transitioning up to Division I and were 13-36 last year.

March 15 vs. Dayton

The first midweek home game comes against a 24-27 Dayton team from a year ago.

March 17-20 vs. Illinois State (first two at Illinois State, last two at Purdue)

This will be a hybrid series against the Redbirds led by former Purdue pitching coach Steve Holm. They were 23-34 last year, but he had a very successful season in 2019 as a first year coach, leading them to the NCAA Tournament.

March 22 vs. Northern Illinois

Another midweek game, this time against a 16-38 Huskies team from a year ago.

March 25-27 vs. Ohio State 3 games

The first conference series of the season comes against the Buckeyes who were 22-20 last year. They took 3 of 4 from Purdue last year.

March 29 vs. Illinois-Chicago

The Flames were 30-18 last year, but came up just short in the conference tournament in making the NCAAs.

March 30 at Indiana State

The Sycamores are a strong program and good for some midweek schedule strength. They finished a solid 31-21 last year and won a game in the Nashville Regional as an NCAA team.

April 1-3 at Illinois 3 games

The first Big Ten road series comes across the state line at the Illini. They were 22-22 a year ago and Purdue had its best offensive day of the year against them with a 20-6, but the Boilers only won 2 of 5.

April 6 vs. Indiana State

As per usual with some in-state foes, the Trees give us a return game at home.

April 8-10 vs. Indiana 3 games

This is only the second full home series against the Hoosiers since Alexander Field opened, and it will be a good one as Indiana has been the class of the Big Ten for a while. They took 2 of 3 from Purdue in Bloomington last year and finished 26-18, but missed the NCAA Tournament.

April 12 vs. Purdue-Fort Wayne

Purdue’s all-time winningest coach in Doug Schreiber returns to Purdue with the Mastodons, who were 11-35 last season.

April 14-16 at Penn State 3 games

The Nittany Lions were 18-24 a year ago, but gave Purdue two of its wins as they were 1-2 against the Boilers.

April 19 at Illinois-Chicago

It’s a midweek road game, but a good one as UIC’s field has a gorgeous view of downtown Chicago.

April 20 vs. Evansville

The Aces have not been to Purdue in a while, but were 28-27 last season. Purdue was scheduled to play a three-game series at Evansville just a day after the 2020 season was cancelled.

April 22-24 vs. Belmont 3 games

Purdue’s “bye” week in Big ten play (remember, there are only 13 teams since Wisconsin lacks a program, so at least one team is always on bye from the league schedule) is a home series against the program from Nashville. They were 21-30 a year ago.

April 26 vs. Valparaiso

The Beacons are a common opponent for Purdue in the midweek. They were last in the MVC last year at 16-35.

April 29-May 1 vs. Michigan 3 games

The Wolverines were 27-19 a year ago, but went 0-2 in the Notre Dame regional. They easily swept Purdue in four games last season, winning all four by at least four runs.

May 6-8 at Iowa 3 games

The Hawkeyes were a bit of a surprise last season at 26-18, but were snubbed by the NCAA committee. They took two of three from Purdue in West Lafayette.

May 10 vs. Butler

The final midweek game of the season comes against the Bulldogs, who will make the trip up from Indy. They were 13-23 a year ago.

May 13-15 at Northwestern (3 games)

Purdue will head back to Chicago to face the 15-21 Wildcats from a year ago. they did not end up playing Purdue, as all the scheduled games were cancelled due to COVID.

May 19-21 vs. Maryland

The final regular season comes against the Terrapins, another NCAA team from last year. They were the Big Ten runner-up to Nebraska, going 30-18 and they won games over Norfolk State and Charlotte in the East Carolina regional.

In looking at this schedule it is clear that all of the heft towards an NCAA bid will have to come from conference play. Only one game against Charlotte and two against Indiana State come as strong non-conference games. Otherwise, this is a very, very weak non-conference slate. There is not a single game against a major conference team. That gives Purdue an excellent chance to bank wins and gain confidence early.

The usual suspects of Michigan, Nebraska, Indiana, and Maryland will be the Big Ten favorites, and Purdue gets three of those for home series. Ohio State and Iowa are also usually pretty good. Michigan, Maryland, and Nebraska were the only NCAA teams from the Big Ten last year.

Purdue was just 15-25 a year ago. They struggled against the all Big Ten schedule and finished only ahead of an abysmal Minnesota team who was 6-31, but beat Purdue in two of six games. The Boilers are in need of confidence, and the early season slate is there to deliver some.