Friday, May 2
West Lafayette, Ind.
5 p.m. CT
Northwestern
at
Purdue
Photo by: Mary Grace Grabill/Northwestern Athletics
Northwestern Travels to Purdue for Three-Game Series
5/1/2025 12:46:00 PM | Baseball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern will travel to West Lafayette this weekend to take on Purdue in a weekend series. The series will get started on Friday at 5 p.m. CT, Saturday's first pitch is at 1 p.m. CT, and Sunday's series finale is set for 12 p.m. CT. All three games will be streamed on B1G+.
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 5/2: Purdue – RHP Carter Doorn vs. NU – RHP Sam Hliboki
Saturday, 5/3: Purdue – RHP Cole Van Assen vs. NU – RHP Christian Forniss
Sunday, 5/4: Purdue – TBD vs. NU – TBD
Northwestern (20-22, 9-12 Big Ten) handled Butler in the midweek, 11-7 behind four home runs. LHP Blake MacMillan opened the game with 3.0 shutout innings, RHP Ethan Borggren earned the win in 1.1 scoreless innings, and RHP Jack Grunkemeyer added his second save of the season, surrendering one run on four hits in 3.2 innings.
INF Trent Liolios broke Northwestern's single season home run record with his 16th blast of the season against Butler, surpassing Bob Brucato (1988). Six of Liolios' 16 home runs have come in the eighth inning or later. When Liolios homers, Northwestern is 9-3 and has won six straight. This season, Liolios is slashing .269/.353/.676 with 16 home runs and 36 runs batted in.
INF Ryan Kucherak hit his 13th home run of the season against Butler and his fourth in five games. Kucherak ranks second on the team in home runs behind Trent Liolios and his ten home runs in conference play leads the Big Ten. In conference play, he is slashing .280/.344/.695 with 10 home runs and 19 runs batted in. Kucherak and Liolios became the first Northwestern duo to homer at least 13 times in the same season ever. Kucherak and Liolios are the only Big Ten players with a three-homer game this season and are the only Big Ten teammates with 9+ home runs each in conference play.
INF Owen McElfatrick continued his hot streak with another home run against Butler, his sixth in the last nine games. Against Northern Illinois on 4/15, McElfatrick became the fifth different Wildcat to log a multi-homer game this season, joining Trent Liolios (2/15 at Long Beach State, 3/15 G2 vs. Penn State, and 3/28 at Maryland), Bennett Markinson (2/23 G2 at Fordham), Ryan Kucherak (3/21 G2 vs Illinois, 4/18 at Nebraska), and Jack Lausch (3/30 at Maryland). NU is the only Big Ten team with five different players with a multi-homer game this season.
Northwestern ranks third in the Big Ten and 24th nationally in fielding percentage (.978). In 2024, NU led the Big Ten and ranked 10th nationally in fielding percentage (.980).
Earlier this week, Graduate Student UTL Tyler Ganus was selected to the Allstate NACDA Good Works Team. The Allstate NACDA Good Works Team is made up of 60 student-athletes (20 per season) across all sanctioned men's and women's college sports and divisions who go above and beyond in volunteerism and civic engagement, complementing their achievements in academics and sports.
Purdue leads the all-time series against Northwestern, 123-94-2. Last season, the Boilermakers took all three games at Northwestern, with Friday night's game being played at Wrigley Field.
The Boilermakers (26-18, 7-14 Big Ten) ranks second in the Big Ten in doubles (92) and third in stolen bases (78). UTL Logan Sutter ranks second in the Big Ten in batting average (.375) and third in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.226). Sutter has 20 doubles to lead the conference and 13 home runs. On the pitching side, LHP Michael Vallone ranks eighth in the conference in earned-run average (3.64) pitching primarily out of the bullpen.
Following the weekend, Northwestern will begin on its final homestand of the series, starting with a three-game series against Ohio State followed by a final midweek game against Valparaiso. Friday's Ohio State game will be at Wrigley Field.
Probable Pitchers
Friday, 5/2: Purdue – RHP Carter Doorn vs. NU – RHP Sam Hliboki
Saturday, 5/3: Purdue – RHP Cole Van Assen vs. NU – RHP Christian Forniss
Sunday, 5/4: Purdue – TBD vs. NU – TBD
Northwestern (20-22, 9-12 Big Ten) handled Butler in the midweek, 11-7 behind four home runs. LHP Blake MacMillan opened the game with 3.0 shutout innings, RHP Ethan Borggren earned the win in 1.1 scoreless innings, and RHP Jack Grunkemeyer added his second save of the season, surrendering one run on four hits in 3.2 innings.
INF Trent Liolios broke Northwestern's single season home run record with his 16th blast of the season against Butler, surpassing Bob Brucato (1988). Six of Liolios' 16 home runs have come in the eighth inning or later. When Liolios homers, Northwestern is 9-3 and has won six straight. This season, Liolios is slashing .269/.353/.676 with 16 home runs and 36 runs batted in.
INF Jacob Hand had another strong weekend against Washington, reaching five times in nine plate appearances and homering for the second time this season. Hand had previously blasted a walk-off home run to beat UIC, 7-6 last Tuesday. It was Northwestern's third walk-off win of the season and eighth one-run win, most since 2017. In his last eight games, Hand is slashing .316/.517/.737 with two home runs and six runs batted in.Etched in History ???? https://t.co/LgD0vDZlNt pic.twitter.com/uWuA39as5h
— Northwestern Baseball (@NUCatsBaseball) April 30, 2025
INF Ryan Kucherak hit his 13th home run of the season against Butler and his fourth in five games. Kucherak ranks second on the team in home runs behind Trent Liolios and his ten home runs in conference play leads the Big Ten. In conference play, he is slashing .280/.344/.695 with 10 home runs and 19 runs batted in. Kucherak and Liolios became the first Northwestern duo to homer at least 13 times in the same season ever. Kucherak and Liolios are the only Big Ten players with a three-homer game this season and are the only Big Ten teammates with 9+ home runs each in conference play.
INF Owen McElfatrick continued his hot streak with another home run against Butler, his sixth in the last nine games. Against Northern Illinois on 4/15, McElfatrick became the fifth different Wildcat to log a multi-homer game this season, joining Trent Liolios (2/15 at Long Beach State, 3/15 G2 vs. Penn State, and 3/28 at Maryland), Bennett Markinson (2/23 G2 at Fordham), Ryan Kucherak (3/21 G2 vs Illinois, 4/18 at Nebraska), and Jack Lausch (3/30 at Maryland). NU is the only Big Ten team with five different players with a multi-homer game this season.
Northwestern ranks third in the Big Ten and 24th nationally in fielding percentage (.978). In 2024, NU led the Big Ten and ranked 10th nationally in fielding percentage (.980).
Earlier this week, Graduate Student UTL Tyler Ganus was selected to the Allstate NACDA Good Works Team. The Allstate NACDA Good Works Team is made up of 60 student-athletes (20 per season) across all sanctioned men's and women's college sports and divisions who go above and beyond in volunteerism and civic engagement, complementing their achievements in academics and sports.
Purdue leads the all-time series against Northwestern, 123-94-2. Last season, the Boilermakers took all three games at Northwestern, with Friday night's game being played at Wrigley Field.
The Boilermakers (26-18, 7-14 Big Ten) ranks second in the Big Ten in doubles (92) and third in stolen bases (78). UTL Logan Sutter ranks second in the Big Ten in batting average (.375) and third in on-base plus slugging percentage (1.226). Sutter has 20 doubles to lead the conference and 13 home runs. On the pitching side, LHP Michael Vallone ranks eighth in the conference in earned-run average (3.64) pitching primarily out of the bullpen.
Following the weekend, Northwestern will begin on its final homestand of the series, starting with a three-game series against Ohio State followed by a final midweek game against Valparaiso. Friday's Ohio State game will be at Wrigley Field.
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